What is Due
by Yojimbra
Summary: When she first found him, cold, drowning, and catatonic, Karin never thought that she would one day fall in love with this blond idiot. Naruto x Karin, Narukari, fluff.
1. Chapter 1

Rain was horrible, it meant a lack of sunshine, a lack of dryness, an overabundance of wet. In the Grass, the rain often brought thunderstorms, massive dark clouds like angry gods raining down death and destruction. But worse, worse was the floods, they came without warning and wreaked devastation.

A flood took everything from her once before. She was barely a child when it happened, she remembered her mother being happy, her father being alive, and her home. They had a home, not the crappy shack that she and her mother used to live in but a real home with a real yard and a real family.

But then a flood came, taking her home, her father, their happiness, and eventually her mother. Leaving Karin alone in this cold dark world to cut out a place for herself. She had felt and seen happiness when she participated in the chunin exams in Konoha when she was rescued by a boy Sasuke Uchiha.

But since then her life had become hell.

"They probably think I'm dead already," Karin shivered as a gust of wind blew up into her shelter, a small cave along the steep incline of a raging river that Karin had to pull herself out of. Her dismal fire barely more than a glowing pile of embers sputtered and faded with the wind and rain before it surged back to life.

She'd have to get more wood soon.

This was all their fault, she had told them that this mission was dangerous, she had told them that it was too risky, she warned them about the weather. But those idiots said that everything would be fine, that she could heal any wounds they got, and that if she died it was her fault for being weak.

"Bastards," She ripped off her headband and threw it into the fire. They didn't care if she lived or died, so why should she care about them? The only person in her life that cared about her was her. It had been that way ever since her mom died. The strap of her headband fed the fire while the metal plate sunk into the growing pile of ash.

She pushed all of her hatred into watching that plate burn hoping that it would start to melt, or that it was some dark symbolic ritual set the whole village aflame. Thunder clapped and that anger died. She screamed, good loud and hard, pressing herself up against the cold wet wall of the cave. "Please, someone come, I can't take it anymore."

She just wanted to be safe and warm and dry and not starving. It didn't matter with who or where. Anywhere was better than here. And anyone was better than being alone.

"If only Sasuke was here. If I get attacked by a bear again, I wonder if he'd show up." the thought brought a smile to her face barely strong enough to stop the tears from falling from her face. She pushed her glasses up and wiped her eyes, only succeeding in getting more rainwater on her face.

The fire began to fade. If she went out there, she might die. If she didn't she'd freeze to death, she could already feel the early stages hyperthermia began to set in. The kind of wood didn't matter, even waterlogged would be fine with her jutsu, she just needed the fuel.

With a groan Karin stood with slow and shaky movements, ready to run back inside the second she saw another flash of lightning. The wind had died down, but the sky was still dark and heavy with rain. "Hopefully it doesn't start hailing."

Through the curtain of rain, she surveyed the area scanning for any kind of wood, a fallen tree, some driftwood, anything. She saw a large log stuck against a rock near the shore, probably brought from upriver. And there was something orange on it.

"Wait, that's a person!" She closed her eyes and focused on her mind's eye, he was alive, if only barely. With slow careful steps down the rocky slopes, Karin advanced towards them.

He was a blond boy, half-drowned and covered in blood, the only thing stopping him from being dragged down river was his orange jacket, a massive hole torn through it was snagged on one of the branches and was getting close to tearing loose. He seemed familiar, kind of. There was no headband symbolizing his allegiance, was he even a ninja?

Gritting her teeth Karin placed a hand on the log and stepped onto the water, normally walking on water wouldn't be a problem for her, but she was tired, hungry, afraid, and the water was wild. She needed to be careful a slip for her would likely mean both of their deaths.

She inched her way towards him, both hands holding firm to the log. Why on earth was she risking her life for a stranger? Especially one that was probably going to die anyway. There was no way that his body wasn't in late stages of hypothermia, plus there was the blood that was still leaking from his head.

Biting her lip she extended her hand outward and grabbed him by the collar.

Lightning struck.

Thunder boomed.

A tree set aflame, splintered in two, crashed down into the river.

Karin screamed, throwing herself onto the log as her concentration failed her her feet slipping down into the water. Her glasses fell from her head tumbling off the log and into the raging water below. Another reason to call this day an absolute monstrosity that had no right to exist. The clarity she once viewed the world with was gone, and everything became vague, dark, and blurry.

Slow deep even breaths. "I'm in a valley surrounded by tall trees. The lightning won't hit me the lightning won't hit."

She tried to stop the shaking, but she couldn't even move, her body was paralyzed and her feet were growing numb. She had to move! Somehow among the rain and wind, she heard the boy's jacket tear and his body shake loose.

She lunged, grabbing holding of the boy by his arm, his head lulling in the water. One hand sticking to the log with chakra even as her fingers were losing their feeling. Why was she risking her life for his again?

With what little strength she had left in her, she pulled, dragging the boy behind her. Inch by painful inch she moved towards the shore.

Karin looked at the boy when she pulled him up onto shore. Not that it did much good, his features were a blur to her, all that she could tell was that his shirt, much like his jacket had a large hole where the heart was. Dried blood covered much of his torso, but his heart was still beating.

"Now," she pointed toward her cave and let out a sigh. "I have to carry your ass all the way up there."

This better be the son of some nobleman she was saving. Somehow she managed to drag the blond boy up into her cave, where the glowing embers of her fire offered little in the warmth she was hoping for. Once again she tried to turn her anger and annoyance into something useful by staring at the embers. Nothing happened.

"Maybe you have something that can help me?" The boy had some useful stuff, a few ration bars - she quickly ate one - a few scrolls that she couldn't read, and several kunai. So she rescued a ninja, there went her noble's son dream. Maybe he came from one of the nice villages that would be so grateful she saved his life that they'd offer her a spot among them?

"I guess there's no way of telling until you wake up, huh?" She poked him in the cheek and sighed. She didn't even get any wood for her fire, just a useless boy, at least his body heat my do something, probably not.

The sky cracked and thunder exploded as the log he had been stuck on was shattered into flaming splinters. Even if she wanted to go get some of the precious fire it was too risky, she could barely see, and it was only getting darker. Which meant it was going to get colder.

"I can't believe I'm about to do this," she growled, taking off the boy's jacket with extra venom. His shirt was next, then his pants. Leaving him in just his underwear. Even if she couldn't really see, there was no way she was going to take those off for him.

"If you wake up before I do and get any funny ideas I'm going to kick your ass." Assuming they lived through the night. Karin placed her chain shirt next to his and spread out their clothes as good as she could around the fire in the vague hope of the embers drying them. But with the wind blowing rain, she doubted it would do much.

Clad in nothing but her underwear she grabbed the boy and pulled him close, using his body as a shield for the rain and a source of warmth. He was oddly warm, despite being pulled out from a water. It was nice, even if it was the most embarrassing position she'd ever been in.

She'd probably die if somebody were to find her like this.

With the feeling returning to most of her body, save her toes that were going to fall off any moment now Karin allowed herself a few moments to collect herself.

She needed a plan.

If it was still raining tomorrow and Blondy was still knocked out, they'd probably die.

If he was awake, she could send him out into the rain to gather firewood, unless he couldn't see shit like her then they both die.

No rain and she would wait for him to wake up, if he didn't she'd probably leave him and take what she could of his and try to make her way to a village. If he did they'd head off together to the nearest village, get directions, and then she would insist that he take her to his village. He owed her for saving his life after all.

"You better at least be cute, rich, or useful," Karin mumbled before she forced herself to sleep. She still couldn't believe that she was cuddling in her underwear with some boy she never met before.

XXXX

When she awoke it still smelled like rain, but the sun had finally peaked out from behind the clouds. Or so she thought, it looked bright and cheery out there, and there were birds happily chirping in the distances.

But that wasn't what concerned Karin the most, sure it not raining and a lack of thunder was a great thing, however, it was her companion that concerned her. At some point, her catatonic cuddle buddy had moved during the night and was now hugging her tightly.

It was actually kind of nice. And warm.

But that was beside the point. Blondy was awake or at least moving.

Pushing herself out of his arms Karin tried to examine him once more, she still couldn't see shit without her glasses. They were probably lost in the river forever now, those things were expensive.

He owed her a new pair of glasses. He owed her a lot actually, maybe he was one of those oath-bound idiots and he'd be her eternal manservant.

She stared at him for a few silent moments trying to figure out if he was asleep or not. He probably was, she'd wake him up after she was dressed. He did not need any thoughts about her cuddling him in their underwear in order to stay warm.

The good news was that her clothes were kind of dry. So she had that going for her.

She poked him in the cheek. "Hey, wake up."

He groaned and slapped her hand away. Rude.

"I said wake up!" she shouted right in his ear.

"Ahh, I'm awake!" Blondy shot up like a rocket, stumbling forward and almost hitting his head on the low hanging roof. He turned to her, still in his underwear. "Umm who are you?"

Well, he certainly didn't have any shame, standing in front of her in nothing but his underwear. Shame she couldn't tell if he was hot or not. For all, she knew he could be ugly. He didn't sound hot. "I'm Karin, I'm the girl that saved your life by pulling you out of the river, now who are you?"

"Me?"

"There's no one else around."

"Oh...I don't know."

That didn't sound good. Karin took a deep breath and tried to think about this calmly, maybe he just didn't know if he should tell her his name? Maybe he was shy or something. "You don't know as in you don't know who you are?"

"Yea, that one, do you know who I am?"

He was an idiot. An idiot that didn't know who he was.

Karin wanted to scream. So she did. A good long healthy scream.

 **AN: Hey look Another new fic! I've been wanting to do another new Karin x Naruto fic for a while and finally got an idea I like, hope you all enjoy it!**

 **I'm going to go write some Flower Shop Romance now. (Actually dota 2 first.)**

 **Follow me on Tumblr!**

.com There's a link to my P.A.T.R.E.O.N. there to... not that you need to do that.


	2. Chapter 2

"So where are we going?"

Karin groaned at the orange-clad back of Blondy, or at least the orange vaguely human-shaped blob of color that was her companion. He just had to be an amnesiac idiot. "We're following the river, it'll eventually lead to a town where we can… hopefully not starve."

Both of them were broke. Very very broke. She lost all her money when her team left her for dead, and he probably lost his wallet or didn't bring it when he fell into a river and lost all his memories.

"But what if there is no town on the river?" Blondy asked climbing over a fallen log that barred their path. At Least he was nice enough to offer her a hand up. "And why do I have to help you walk."

Maybe he was amnesiac before and the person that found him before was so sick of his shit they pushed him into the river? "Because I lost my glasses saving your life." She told him that three times already. "So I can't see where I'm going. And we're following the river because all the rivers in the region are tributaries of the Mogami River, and yes there are cities on that river."

"Oh," He pulled her up over the log easily and helped her down as well. At least he was a decent guide dog. Shame they already ate all of his ration bars. "How do you know that this isn't the Mo-gi-something river? "

"Stop asking so many questions! And it's Mogami." Karin took a soft step forward as she tried to navigate the uneven forest floor, something difficult enough when she can see. "And trust me the Mogami river is big, you'll know it when we see it."

"Uhh, okay," Blondy said, from his point position. "But what do we do when we get to a town or something?"

"Find me some damn glasses." Being blind was so unbelievably annoying, mostly because her seeing eye idiot, was well… and idiot. "And then after that, you owe me!"

"Owe you what?"

She took a deep breath. She needed to stay calm if she pissed him off there was nothing that she could do to stop him. Then she'd be stuck alone in the middle of a forest blind. "I saved your life, so you have to get me a new life, that means a home that was better than my old home you got that?"

"Oh," he sounded like he was trying to sound like he understood what she meant. "And how do I do that?"

"Hopefully by turning out to be someone important from a nice village. Like Konoha." Konoha would be ideal, then she'd be in the same village as Sasuke, she could introduce herself, he would remember her, they would date, they would have sex, she would make certain that she got pregnant, then he'd marry her and she'd be set.

The Uchiha were important or something, she heard the Daimyo say so.

"Konoha?" Blondy stopped in his tracks right in Karin's path.

She stepped on a gnarled root in an odd way, her ankle slipped and twisted sharply to one side. The pain was enough to send her to the ground. "Gah Dammit! Why'd you stop!?"

"Huh? Oh! Karin are you okay?" Her valiant orange blob lept to her defense his hand falling to her ankle. "That 's not supposed to look like that is it?"

"No it's not, dammit, I rolled my ankle." Karin hissed in pain as Blondy touched it gingerly.

"What do I do? How can I fix it!? Should I push it back?" If she wasn't in so much pain his panicking might have been cute.

"No you idiot," She grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him away from her foot. "Help me up, I might still be able to walk."

He helped her stand, supporting her upper body as she slowly tried to put pressure on her foot. The second her foot tried to bear any weight searing pain shot through her body. "Dammit, I can't walk this, Blondy you're going to have to carry me."

"Uh, okay." He picked her up bridal style. "Huh, you're lighter than you look."

Ahh yes, her permanent diet of being a broke ass bitch. Wait, this was wrong nobody but a hunky-hunk should be carrying her like this and even then only to their bedroom! "Not like this! Carry me on your back!"

"Huh? On my back? Uhh, how do I do that? I don't have arms there."

"Just…" Karin sighed and latched her arms around Blondy's neck. He better not get any funny ideas about this. If he even got any ideas. "Just put me down and I'll show you how."

With one foot on the ground, she hobbled around him and leaned against him, at least he was sturdy. "Okay, I'm going to hop up onto your back, so lean forward a bit, and then hook your arms under my legs got that?"

"Uhh okay?" Like a good obedient dog, he did as she said.

With a grunt, she hopped up onto his back and he caught her legs. "There, you should be able to walk much longer like this."

He started to walk forward, his face right next to her's as her arms were draped around his neck like she was a scarf. "How long do I have to carry you like this anyway?"

"It shouldn't be too long, I am an Uzumaki so I heal quick." Ahh yes, her only real claim to fame, the Uzumaki abilities that everybody just loved taking advantage of. From making fun of her red hair to her pasty skin, and how could she forget the numerous scars on her body from people that wanted to appreciate her Uzumaki heritage.

"Uzumaki?" Blondy questioned, he shifted her weight slightly so that he was cupping her ass.

Karin gasped, it wasn't the first time that somebody had grabbed her ass. But that didn't mean it was okay. "Quit touching my butt!"

"Huh? Oh sorry." He didn't even seem to care as he navigated the forest, keeping river to their right. "Man, for someone so cute you sure are bossy."

That was a first. The first time a boy decides to give her a compliment and she's too blind to even tell if he's cute or not. He didn't sound cute, he sounded stupid. But it was enough for her cheeks to feel warm and maybe just maybe a bit happy about her current situation. "You think I'm cute?"

"Huh? Well, yea." She could practically hear the smile in his voice as they scrambled down a slight cliff. "Like your hair, it's really pretty, oh and when you're not squinting you have pretty eyes, and I bet if you were to smile it'd be super pretty too."

"Those were the nicest things anybody has ever said to me." She tightened her grip and pressed her face into his shoulder, burying her smile in his jacket. "Maybe it was worth saving you after all."

Shame he wasn't Sasuke, or cute. Or probably anybody rich, powerful, or… wait, she didn't even know how much chakra he had. With a sigh that could easily be confused as a grunt, Karin closed her eyes and began to see the world with her mind's eye.

She was nearly blinded by the sheer amount of chakra coming off of Blondy. It wasn't just a lot, it was more chakra than anybody in her village had ever had, even the head ninja couldn't hold a candle next to Blondy.

But there was more. His chakra was so bright and warm she could get lost in it. It was warm and dazzling. Sasuke's was the same, but Blondy. Blondy's was brighter and warmer, she just wanted to curl up inside of his chakra and sleep.

A chill went up to her spine as she dug too deep and found something dark, something sinister lurking beneath all of his chakra. It was malicious and evil. Karin opened her eyes and gasped.

"You okay, Karin?"

"I…" How could she even answer that? Was that who Blondy really was under all this cheerfulness? Was he really a despicable person with chakra so dark? Or was there something else? "I'm fine, just keep your eyes on the road."

"What road?"

She sighed. "You can't be a smart ass when you're already a dumb ass."

Just who the hell is Blondy?

XXXX

Biggest river this side of the Desert did not do the Mogami justice, at its widest part the river could be comparable to a moving lake or a calm ocean. The entirety of the land of Rivers was contained within its banks as the innumerable islands that littered the river were home to villages and cities.

The largest island was an island fortress built right in the middle of the riverbed, known as Mogami castle that served as the capital for the lord of the Rivers. But the largest city was Komain City a conglomeration of many islands near the mouth of the river that formed into the largest trading mecca in the world.

To say nothing of the river's Natural beauty. The Mogami was dyed a deep blue from the main cold glacier waters that fed into it, but as the various tributaries fed into it carrying waters and minerals from all over the world, the water changed color, smell, temperature, and flavor, creating a few places where it looked like every shade of blue could be seen.

To Karin, it looked like a giant blob of blue.

"Karin?" Blondy asked he had come to a dead stop the moment they broke through the trees on a cliff that overlooked the soft sandy shore. The river they had been following crashed down as a waterfall into the Mogami. "Please tell me that's the Mogami and not a tri-pu-thingy"

"I guess you can say the name right when you're actually amazed at something huh?" She would be amazed too. If she wasn't blind. She couldn't even tell where the damn river ended and the sky began.

"So which way now?" Blondy was practically bouncing with her on his back.

"Hold on let me check." she closed her eyes and.

"What are you doing?"

Of course, she couldn't expect him to give her a moment to concentrate. Bad enough his chakra and that darkness inside of him was going to make things harder than they needed to be. "I'm trying to concentrate, I have the ability to sense people's chakra."

"Oh cool!" Blondy chirped loudly. "Do I have any Cat-ra? What's it like? Can I do that?"

She wanted to scream so much right now. It didn't matter if Blondy thought she was cute. He was so annoying sometimes! Still, at least he thought her ability was cool. "You have a lot of chakra, it's kind of warm, and I have no idea what you can. Now you can you be quiet so I can focus for a second."

"Oh," his shoulders slumped and his head drooped. "Sorry, Karin."

It was hard not to picture him as a puppy that didn't know it wasn't supposed to eat your slippers but felt really bad that it did.

"It's okay Blondy," Karin sighed, she was ready for a warm bath, a warm bed, and some warm food. She closed her eyes focused. There had to be something nearby. A few people across the water, on one of the islands, reaching them would be a pain even if she could walk, Blondy probably couldn't water walk anyways.

She found them! A small gathering of people just down the shore, it had to be a house or something. Hopefully, they were the hospitable civilian type and not the hostile thug type. "There's a house a few miles down the shore!"

"Wow, you can sense that far? You're amazing Karin!" Blondy shouted with great enthusiasm. "Do you think they'll have food?"

"I don't know." Her stomach roiled at the thought of something to eat. "But if we hurry we should be able to reach them before it gets dark."

"Alright! Hang on tight Karin!" Before she could even process his warning he took the quick way down from their cliff-top perch, by jumping.

Karin Screamed.

 **AN: I like to make Karin scream its fun. Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'm going to get started on the next chapter of Flower Shop Romance. I'm about halfway done with Nano atm, hopefully I don't burn myself out!**


	3. Chapter 3

The Cabin radiated warmth and smelled of fish, sweet, and bread. It was small, happy, and homey the very definition of a country cabin. With a large oak growing beside the house, where a lone swing set lulled by the wind. Grass, vines, and moss covered the stone foundation and much of the roof as well, allowing the home to be at home in the forest.

All Karin saw was a green and brown blob in the forest, only slightly shorter and squarer. But she saw the people. A family of five, one had a faint wispy chakra that felt ready to blow away with the wind, an elder perhaps. One had strong and proud chakra that glowed with kindness, the father. The mother's was kind and carrying, albeit slightly overworked and tired. Two children, their chakra's glowed like sparks ready to ignite a fire.

"Should we knock on the door?" Her orange-clad steed nickered as he stared at the house.

"It couldn't hurt," Karin said from over his shoulder, the family felt welcoming enough. She wiggled her ankle, it was probably good enough to run on if need be. But why use her own energy when Blondy was all too happy to carry her around. He might not be prince charming, but he could certainly be a noble steed!

"Do you think you can walk now though?"

"What? You getting tired? I thought you said you could do this all day?"

"No, I'm not tired, it's just; won't they think it's weird that I'm carrying you?" Blondy adjusted her weight slightly before he began to move towards the cabin.

"It might earn us sympathy points if you show up carrying an injured cute girl such as myself." People tended to be nice when they were either afraid of you or sympathetic towards you. And Karin was far from a terrifying beast.

"Isn't that tricking them though?" Great, he had a moral compass.

Karin sighed and sunk into Naruto's back more, allowing her arms to dangle in front of him. Just the extra bit of pathetic she needed. "I'm hungry, you're hungry, if it makes you feel bad then I don't know, chop their wood, do chores or something. But we're broke, tired, and hungry."

Though that might have summed up her life as well.

Blondy nodded, she could practically see the smile on his face from behind him. At Least him being a goody two shoes meant that he wouldn't abandon her when it was to his benefit. But there went any plans of having a partner in crime.

She was already the brains, maybe he could easily be the brawn?

Blondy knocked the door with the subtly and urgency of a hurricane that nearly shook the door off its hinges. "Hello? Anybody home? My friend is hurt and we're lost, oh and hungry too, and I can cut the chores and do the firewood for you!"

His ears had to be tied in a knot somewhere in his brain.

Karin remained silent doing her best to look ever so slightly zonked out and in discomfort, should be easy considering she was blind. Best to let the smiling earnest idiot talk with a bunch of other smiling earnest idiots.

The door shook back and the sound of wood scraping against wood echoed from inside the house. There was mumbling and talking, and then more wood scraping. The door flung open to a blond woman who was once beautiful but had been worn down by life. "Oh my goodness, you both look ragged! Ryuuji, Futaba, put some water on the fire."

A tall man behind her relaxed, his arms were thick from carrying cords of wood and swinging around a heavy axe that thudded against the flour. "Miyumi, are you sure about this they could be."

"Oh quit your worrying Zen, they're just two kids!" The woman shooed the man away with the back of her hand. "Now let's get you two inside, my goodness just looks at you! What happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh, uhh I don't really know what happened," Blondy shrugged pushing Karin's head up ever so slightly. "I only remember waking up after Karin pulled me up from the river."

"You lost your memories?" A young orange haired girl asked running up to them.

"Futaba!" A shrill elderly voice echoed from inside the house. "You get back here and help your brother."

The house was everything a home should be: Warm, caring, a battle between the forces of cleanliness and filth. The house had a few modern conveniences, electricity being one of them. Running water the other. Which was odd, Karin didn't sense a town anywhere nearby.

Miyumi ordered her family around like a line cook, expertly issuing command after command that sent the family scrambling. Karin liked her.

"Now then, Karin right? Let me take a look at your ankle." Miyumi rolled up her sleeves as Karin sat on a hard wooden stool.

"Be careful, it's still sensitive." Karin hissed as the woman touched her ankle, it really didn't hurt but she had to at least act like she was hurt, otherwise, they could get suspicious.

"Oh my, you really twisted it bad, that you did." The woman began to wrap a wet cloth around Karin's foot. "It's not much but this should relieve the pain just a bit."

"Sorry for troubling you so much."

"Nonsense girl, us decent folks have to look out for one another. That we do." She stood, finishing off the cloth with a slightly too tight knot. "Now, I'll warm up some of the supper for ya, then you and the boy can rest here tonight, does he have a name?"

Food! Shelter! Hopefully, a blanket or something warm she could snuggle up with that wasn't an idiot. "I've been calling him Blondy, and really you're too kind, we wouldn't want to be a bother."

"Nonsense, a couple of friendly faces is just what this family needs right now." There was the edge to the woman's voice something that she was trying to hide. "So what's your story?"

"I…." Karin swallowed, she didn't need to act. She just needed to stop acting. "I was abandoned during a recent storm, somehow I ended up saving Blondy."

"Huh, well he's a better catch than anything my husband has pulled out of the water, that he is," Miyumi laughed, taking a seat next to Karin.

That got Karin's attention. "Is he cute?"

"What you mean you can't tell?"

Karin pouted in the vague direction of the blob. Inside the house her vision was worse, greys blended with browns, reds, woods, blues, only the flickering fire gave her any real clarity as her world took on the depth of a pastel painting made by a child with far too much paint. "When I saved him, I lost my glasses, so I can't really see anything, I don't even know what he looks like."

"Oh my," did this lady have to start every sentence like that? "Well, then how do I put it, let's see oh, he has a round face and has some cute little whisker marks on the cheeks, he's not much to look at right now."

Well so much for prince charming, back to the horse theory, at least he wasn't run away screaming ugly. Still, she really shouldn't be surprised, she did literally fish him out of a river.

"But, he's going to be quite handsome when he grows up."

"What now?" Karin wrinkled up her nose. "How can you know that?"

"Oh trust me, once you get to my age it becomes painfully obvious which boys are going to become the good handsome men, and which ones become…. Well, bastards."

"There's a story there isn't there?" Karin asked scrunching her face in the vague direction of Miyumi's blob.

The woman laughed. "I'm afraid that story is much too mature for someone your age, that it is."

Karin just folded her arms and pouted like a kid. The woman didn't even know her, hell she was a ninja, there was no way this peasant could possibly know anything about being a ninja. To say nothing of her own past.

"That's my point, that it is." Miyumi chuckled once again. "I'll go and fix you and Blondy a bit of food, just enough to settle your stomach before we send you two to bed."

"Thank you so much." Those words came directly from Karin's stomach.

XXXX

Karin flopped onto the spare bed roll Miyumi had given her. The clean feeling of her freshly washed skin mostly free of dirt was wonderful against the warm spare clothes she had been given. And the bedroll that she had been given was as soft as a cloud. "It's like a day at the spa."

Her faithful companion Blondy just snored in her general direction.

Apparently, he wasn't bad to look at. He certainly didn't sound cute or handsome. He sounded stupid. And he was nice. Stupid nice people were always some degree of ugly. Mean people were also ugly. But that didn't change anything!

"There's no way that I'm buying into you being an ugly duckling," Karin snorted and snuggled into her covers. She closed her eyes and listened to the world around her. Blondy was snoring like a well-fed baby, it was almost peaceful.

As her other senses faded into sleep the world around her began to light up as she activated her mind's eye. She wouldn't sleep without it no matter how exhausted she might be. It was her light in the darkness.

The grandmother was asleep, Karin never got her name. The two children were fast asleep while their mother was failing to fall asleep nearby. Zen, the father was sitting next to the door his chakra was tense like it was on the verge of exploding at the slightest movement.

Why was he so on edge? Was he always like that? The ever-vigilant alpha protecting his pack? Or was it something else? His edge felt recent, like a new development, or some long forgotten fact.

There! Out in the woods, like a coiled snake ready to strike a man appeared. His chakra wasn't anything special, a bit twisted perhaps. Another appeared, then another. Karin expanded her range and… oh… oh no. Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, no fifty chakra signatures, had encircled them. And they were closing in for the kill.

One chakra signature stood out from the rest, a tiger among the alley cats. His chakra was sharp and strong and used like a ninja or someone trained to fight with chakra. Worse it was large, larger than the average chunin.

They were too coordinated for it to be a coincidence, this was a targeted attack, and a well thought out one. Escape would be difficult and being caught would make things worse. No, she had one advantage. These men didn't know that she - or Blondy - were here. They were after the people that lived in this house. They could hide and leave once everything passed over.

But where? The closet!

She moved with a slow deliberation, this wasn't the first time she had to hide for her life. She grabbed her bedroll and flopped it onto of Blondy who snored in response. She could just leave him, finding him sleeping would increase her chances of survival, or might encourage them to search the house.

Risks aside, Blondy was her idiot, she saved him once, might as well make it twice then he'd owe her twice over.

"You're going to owe me big time, I want a house, with water, and electricity, I also want a good view, and a bed, and a shower with hot water. And some new glasses," Karin grumbled pulling Blondy towards the closet, which was just large enough for both of them if she lied down on top of him.

It was a halfway decent disguise really, a pile of bedsheets and clothes sandwiched between two bedrolls.

Once again Karin found herself cuddling with that bond Idiot she dragged out of her water. Once again for their own survival.

"Karin?" Blondy groaned, choosing now of all times to wake up. "What's going on? Why's it so dark, why are you so close? Am I carrying you again? I can't carry you to sleep. Wait… can I?"

Another annoying trait to add to the list. He mumbled when he first woke up.

"If you want to live; keep quiet," Karin hissed, pressing her hand over Blondy's mouth. The men were closer now.

A thud echoed through the living room, the door was kicked in, the father shouted, some other men shouted, the grandmother screamed. Men flooded into the house.

Blondy struggled and managed to free his mouth. "What's happening?"

"Someone is attacking the house, I don't know why but if we go out there we'll be killed too." she pressed down on Naruto's shoulder using her full weight to keep him down. "They're not after us."

She hoped.

Miyumi was awake, her chakra snapped into shape, it was a small pool, but one that had been used before, how had she not seen it before? The woman screamed in fury, and rage, and began to attack. One man died, then another, a third confronted her and fell moments later.

In the mean others had taken the children and the father outside. The grandmother was dead.

"Let me go, Karin, I'm a ninja right? I can help."

"You'll die!" Karin hissed slapping her hand over Blondy's mouth again. He needed to be alive, she didn't know why the thought of him dying made the bile in her stomach roil. Probably because he didn't treat her like dog shit.

A great roar boomed from outside, like a beast of thunder dominating the land. "Miyumi! So this is where you were hiding. Surrender yourself nice like and I'll let your kids live, can't say much about the father."

Blondy pushed her off him. "I'm going to help them."

"You'll die!" she cried scrambling after him, only to grab onto his heel as he stood to walk out there unarmed, in nothing but a few ill fitted clothes. "Please, think about this it's not too late to hide."

"I have to," Blondy continued to walk, his foot slipping out of her fingers.

She wanted to scream. He just had to be an idiot knight in stupid shining orange armor. Idiot idiot idiot! He was her meal ticket! And now he was going to go out there and die. And why the hell was she following him?

This had bad idea written all over it, Miyumi had been captured now, and was being beaten. They were just two genin! One that couldn't fight and one that didn't have any memories!

The outside was lit by torches. Miyumi sat in the center of the group being held by her arms by two of the larger men. Her family, equally restrained forced to watch as she was beaten.

"You gave up us for this?" A large man bellowed, his chakra roaring like a wild tiger. He was built like a brick-shithouse, in his youth he might have been a mountain of muscle that ate the meal of three men. But with age that mountain had grown fat, though the muscle remained underneath. A large tattoo of a white tiger consumed his entire right arm and stretched up his shoulder blade.

"Piss off," Miyumi spat.

His reply was another slap to her face that sounded like thunder.

"Hey!" Blondy shouted, "Let them go!"

There went stealth and surprise, their only two advantages. Aside from Blondy's chakra, that was still more than all the other men combined, but that did a lot when he probably couldn't even use it. It's not like he'd remember how to fight let alone any jutsu.

"You and what army punk?" The tiger roared, his massive gut shaking as he laughed. "Tell you what, sell me your little girlfriend and I might let you join my gang."

Oh joy looks like she was going to be sold… again.

Blondy tightened, his entire body tensing before he relaxed into a smile. His chakra began to rage like the ocean at storm, gathering in strength and ferocity. He was summoning it. That massive amount of chakra was being gathered for a purpose.

"Boss!" A thug shouted from the crowd. "That's him! The one that beat us back when we worked with Gato!"

"This is the brat that cost us, Gato? Screw it! I'll just kill you and your little girlfriend!" The boss roared, his tattoo lighting up with sparks of lightning.

"Don't let him use his Jutsu!" The same thug shouted.

Blondy formed a hand sign. One hand sign. And his chakra went wild. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

There was a flash, and Karin was dazzled for a moment. Her Mind's Eye going wild, the number of chakra signatures had doubled, no tripled? No more, much more. In the space between heartbeats, Blondy had flipped the numbers in their favor with an army of himself.

"Charge!" They all shouted at once.

Karin could do nothing, she didn't need to. Blondy knew how to fight, he could use a jutsu, and what a spectacular one at that. The canon fodder fell under the might of his swarm. The only one that put up a fight was The Boss with his arm throwing off lightning - a one trick pony that would work with non-ninjas.

But Blondy's trick was better

In the end, all those that didn't run were beaten within an inch of their lives.

The only one still conscience was the thug that knew him. "Look I'm sorry I'll give up thugging for good! Just please don't hurt me again!"

"You know me right?" The thug nodded frantically. "Then where did we meet before?"

"The wave don't you remember? It was you and your team and that damn Zabuza, that killed Gato in the wave."

Karin sighed. "Looks like we need a boat."

She hated the water.

 **AN: This chapter went a different direction like three times when writing it. the fight scene was actually supposed to be a bit longer but... I can't write fight scenes. Anyways bit of a longer than normal chapter but I hope you all enjoy it as I set up the more or less plot of Karin and Naruto's field trip.**


	4. Chapter 4

The sound of money was music to Karin's ears, and due to them clearing out an entire bandit gang last night Karin now had more money in her hand than she had ever had. Still, it wasn't much, enough for a few stays at an inn, maybe a charter for a boat to the wave. But most importantly if Karin knew her money - which she did even when blind - enough for a new pair of glasses.

And that was after Blondie had insisted on giving the lion's share to the family.

"So do you know where the wave is?" Blondie asked, his hand grabbing hers to help her over a stump. It was like he had a thing for hand holding, that or he was just a touchy person, maybe she should let him carry her again. Her feet were hurting.

Karin grunted as she hopped over the stump with his help, the warm summer sun piercing through the thick forest canopy mixed well with the moist wind that blew from the river. "It's a large island off the coast of the Land of Fire or the Land of Tea, it was once a thriving nation filled with ports, but since the third war and the destruction of its sister nation The land of Whirlpools it's been in a state of decline. The quickest way for us to get there is to get a boat to take us there."

"Wow, you sure do know a lot of stuff huh Karin?" Blondie smiled at her, though to her it looked like he had one giant tooth that was splitting his face. Kind of like his skeleton was trying to exit his meat suit.

"And don't you forget it knucklehead," Karin waited for him to take the lead once again, she was sure there was a path or a road that would have led them to the closest town in a less hazardous path, but she couldn't make it out from one slightly less green patch from the next slightly less green patch, so she gave Blondie the simple direction of south while she looked for a mass of chakra. "I'm the brains of this operation."

"And the cute one."

Great! Just great he remembered how to flirt! That wasn't anywhere near as useful as his jutsu. All that did was make her cheeks warm that he might actually be cute! He was so frustrating, on the one hand he was an idiot, on the other hand he was legitimately the nicest person she had ever met, nobody else had put up with her this much.

"You're just saying that cause I'm the only girl you've seen," Karin grumbled as she nudged him southward along the straight line that he had chosen.

"I saw Miyumi and Futaba." Blondie laughed pushing some branches out of their path. She had given him simple instructions, keep the river on their right. So when they found a port tower or some other fishing village where they could borrow, steal, bargain, haggle, stowaway, a boat down river until they could find an actual seafaring vessel.

"Gee thanks, I appreciate being compared to a five-year-old and a retired Yakuza boss." Karin rolled her eyes, which proved to be a bad idea as the world blurred and made her head spin slightly. This was getting annoying, it was like the entire world was made of jello.

Blondie hopped in front of her again, a blond and orange blob that served as her beacon in the clouded forest. It felt like her eyesight was becoming worse, especially because she couldn't even remember what clarity looked like. What would she do if she couldn't get another pair of glasses? How was she going to read, or look at cute boys! She'd have to actually get to know people and judge them by their personality.

Holy crap she was a shallow bitch.

Still, she had gotten to know Blondie without her glasses, and things seemed okay. Sure he was an idiot, but he was also kind, caring, heroic, and a bunch of other traits that were going to get him killed someday. But he was also reliable. "Holy crap I think you're my best friend."

"Huh?" he looked back at her, his voice laced with confusion. "What do you mean? You didn't have any friends back in your village?"

"Nope, everybody there hated me for being an outsider, all thanks to my stupid red hair." Ahh yes, her tragic backstory, perfect for some kind of underdog redemption story where she could prove them all wrong and become an accepted member of the village. As if that had a snowball's chance in hell of happening. She was D. O. N. E. Done with the village hidden in the Grass.

"Well if it makes you feel any better I like your red hair, it's very pretty."

"You've said that before." Several times actually, he was obsessed with red hair. And she was not going to let him know that she liked it.

"Doesn't mean it's any less true." He helped her down from a stump like she was a princess exiting her carriage.

"Are you sure you weren't a toad?" Karin asked, failing to fight away the smile that he was putting on her face.

"Toad? No, I don't think so… I mean I'm a human right?" Blondie asked.

"Oh, it's just an old Uzumaki fairy tale my mom used to tell me."

"Oh, can you tell me it?"

"What? No! It's embarrassing, and it's boring no fighting, just girly love stuff, you wouldn't like it." Karin tried to wave him off.

"We don't have anything better to do."

That was a fair point.

"Fine," Karin sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "It's been awhile since I've heard it, and if you talk or laugh before I finish I'm going to stop, got it."

"Yes, ma'am." Blondie smacked his lips shut with a pop and bumbled forward.

"Right, so a long time ago, there was a princess, that lived in a castle. The princess didn't have any friends, and her family was always too busy for her. So she spent most of her days alone, exploring the castle gardens. One day a toad hops out of the pond and a toad hops out of the pond." Karin droned on at first but began to enjoy herself the more she spoke.

She croaked like a toad. "Hello Princess, If you give me a kiss I can make your dreams come true. The toad croaked." Karin said in a raspy voice that tickled the back of her throat. Her efforts earned a stifled chuckle from Blondie, at least he was trying.

"You are but a toad, why would I kiss you. The princess said, somehow completely fine that there was a talking toad asking for kisses coming out of her pond." Karin smiled to herself. "And wouldn't you rather get a kiss from a lady toad?"

"No, my dear, the toad croaked, I have been watching you for a while now and have determined that you are my one true love."

"Oh, you are too kind Mr. Toad, the princess said apologetically. But I am afraid, that I cannot love you for you are a toad and I am a princess."

"Then I ask that you simply talk with, The toad begged."

Karin cleared the throat and examined the soft light that came in through the forest canopy, it was just past noon now. "The princess agreed and talked to the toad until night began to fall. She did so the next day, and the day after that and so on, until the toad became her best friend."

"And each night the toad would ask her for a good night kiss, but each night she would refuse. Until one day, she realized that she loved the toad, he made her feel special and wanted. So he kissed the toad."

"Something magical happened when she did, and she found herself kissing not a toad, but a beautiful princess charming."

"I don't understand, the princess gasped, I thought you were a toad."

"No, Prince Charming laughed as he cupped her cheek gently. I was cursed to take the form of a toad until I received a kiss from my one true love. They then lived happily ever after."

"Why was the prince cursed?" Blondie asked the second she finished.

"I don't know." Karin frowned. "The story didn't really go into it."

That or she forgot.

"Huh, so does that mean you kissed me?" Blondie asked.

"No, I'm tempted to punch you though." Karin crossed her arms and frowned. "Maybe I should, could be a great way to get your memories back."

"I have a feeling that won't help anything," Blondie grumbled rubbing a spot on his head. "But why'd you ask if I was a frog."

"Because you're nice and sweet like prince charming, even if you're an idiot." Karin huffed, she shoved the burning of her cheeks into the back of her mind. "And don't forget you owe me a new life!"

"Don't worry Karin, I promise you that I'll get you your happily ever after." Stupid idiot prince was way too good at saying random gibberish that made her heart beat. "Believe it."

"You better." She mumbled.

She just wanted a house of her own, with a strong, handsome, loving, husband that made enough so that she didn't have to work would be great. Kids optional.

"Oh, I think I sense a town up ahead!" Karin gasped as she felt hundreds of weak chakra signatures, all milling about in the afternoon sun. That meant, food, supplies, and transportation.

"Really? That's awesome Karin!" He grabbed her hand again and began to run. "Let's go! I'm so hungry!"

XXXX

Karin sighed into the bowl of ramen that Blondie had dragged her to. It was warm, hearty and probably the closest thing to a full meal she had eaten in days. While Miyumi's cooking was good it lacked the flavor and fillingness of Ramen. "What made you decide to choose this place?"

"I used my nose!" Blondie pointed towards his nose as a clump of noodles hung from his mouth. "I think I really really like ramen, cause this is so good."

"Yea, it tastes great!" best part was that it was cheap, especially when she considered how much she got with just one bowl, it was easily a lunch and dinner combo! Karin looked over to Blondie and saw that he was already working on his second bowl. Or maybe it would be an afternoon snack for him.

"Can we eat this everyday Karin?" Blondie asked her practically bouncing in his seat.

"I don't see why not." Instant ramen was especially easy to make, especially if they had a reliable heat source. And it was also cheap. And cheap was good. Very very good. "We'll buy some when we hit the store."

That made Blondie happy if his slurping was any indication.

XXXX

Karin flopped down onto the mattress and sighed at its heavenly softness. She wasn't made for all this wilderness traveling her and Blondie had been doing. She was a princess and needed to be pampered every single day with such luxuries as a bed and running water.

She was clean, actually clean for the first time in forever, she had taken a long, long bath and simply enjoyed herself. She ran a hand over her arm and felt its clean smoothness. Shame she wasn't sharing a bed with Blondie, that way she could share her wonderful smoothness.

Wait, what was she thinking? It was a good thing they had a room with two beds. She had half expected them to end up sharing a bed because of some sick joke life was playing on her.

"Was the bath that good?" Blondie asked, his usual orange blob exchanged for a blue set of clothing, she couldn't have him walking around wearing a jacket with a giant hole in the middle of it.

"It was wonderful," Karin laughed flipping onto her back to stare up at the muted ceiling. "How'd the packing go?"

"Good, I got almost everything into the bags." Blondie kicked at his slightly overstuffed bag, there were. "Are you sure you don't want me to carry more?"

"Nah, it's fine," Karin smiled as she felt the warmness of her bed. She was going to sleep so good tonight. Hopefully with no bandit attack in the middle of the night or some other apocalyptic event. She just wanted one night where she could sleep soundly without having to worry about the world exploding.

"I'm sorry we couldn't find a place to get you glasses."

"That's not your fault though," Karin looked his way putting on her best smile. "I wasn't surprised that a town of this size didn't have one, we'll just spend some time in Komain city."

She couldn't believe their luck, they had found a man willing to take them all the way to Komain city in exchange for Blondie doing a bit of shipwork. Hopefully, he wasn't the seasick type.

"Now, let's rest up, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

She smiled into her bed slipping underneath the soft freshly washed blankets. Oh, this was good, her entire body relaxing like she was being massaged by warmth.

As blondie turned off the light and slid into his own bed, he spoke. "Hey, Karin?"

She grunted in response. "Huh?"

He was oddly quiet for a moment, then he sighed. "Nevermind, I'll talk to you tomorrow."

That night Karin dreamed of Blondie feeding her ramen.

 **AN: Hello! I hope you enjoy the random walking fluff! Next chapter will probably be some boat fluff, then maybe some city fluff.**

 **No idea what I'm working on tomorrow, but I'm taking a bit of a break in december, mostly cause I think Nano is starting to wear me down. That and I want to play Xenoblade 2.**

 **Follow me on Tumblr! (Or not you do you fam!)**


	5. Chapter 5

Karin glared at the ugly brown blob that was going to be all she was going to see for the next two days while they traveled down river. It seemed so fitting that they would be given what was basically a broom closet behind the cargo hold. They even had to climb on top of the cargo just to get to it.

She was fairly certain that they were stowaways. Or at least she was Blondie would be actually working.

Karin sighed and sat down her pack and began to unroll her bedroll. If she had glasses she'd read, if she had Blondie she'd talk. Instead, all she got to do was stare at the ceiling and try not to puke like the last time she was on a boat.

In short, she was going to be doing nothing at all.

All she could do was to focus on her Mind's eye and see the world through it. Noting the works as they milled about on the deck, Blondie was the easiest to find his next to the crew his chakra was like the sun next to a bunch of candles.

But like the sun staring at his chakra was dangerous. That darkness that lurked below his warmth was impossible to ignore, it was the stark difference between a warm summer day and a blizzard.

The darkness inside of blondie was something truly terrifying like a mass of hatred made real. But it was something that she couldn't take her eyes off of like it was calling her luring her into it.

"UZUMAKI!" A roar tore through her mind shaking her thoughts and snapping her back to reality. She could feel claw marks on her body deep wounds that went beyond skin deep tearing at her very insides.

Then the good of blondie's chakra swirled back pushing the claws away and freeing her mind.

Karin gasped, the lines between the two chakra's became as visible as night and day. Blondie's chakra was that good warm inviting chakra, and it was keeping that darkness inside. There was something inside of him something that he was keeping away from the world.

And he didn't even know it.

She went to wipe her brow but was stopped when she felt a weight pulling on her hand. A chain or at least part of one was hanging from her hand. Wait, no it was coming out of her hand. Was this her chakra? It was! Her chakra could manifest as chains. "Okay, Karin, think your mom had to tell you something like this right?"

Nothing came up, no memory of hey you might randomly grow chains, no reference to why whatever was in Blondie knew that she was an Uzumaki. All that she could think of was what the Uzumaki were known for.

Sealing. Did an Uzumaki seal that thing into Blondie? Did Blondie even have a seal? If she could see she could probably find out.

The chain crawled back into her hand on its own. She tried to force it back out but nothing happened. Didn't seem very useful anyway.

Still, she didn't have anything better to do, might as well try to figure out how to use this chain that came out of her hand.

By the time Blondie had come back down she could make an inch of the weird chakra chain dangle uselessly from the middle of her palm.

"Hey, Karin." His blond head popped out from the narrow crawl space that was their door. "Did you miss me."

"No, I did not miss you while I was stuck in this broom closet all day with nothing to do." Karin rolled her eyes and scooted over so that Blondie could sit down. Sleeping was going to be awkward again. "I was perfectly happy sitting in here alone."

"Oh,"

"That was sarcasm idiot," Karin patted the ground beside her. "Of course I missed you."

"Oh, I knew that." Blondie plopped down beside her and shoved a warm bundle of food her way. "I was told to bring you this."

It was warm, wet, soft, cold, dry, crunchy all at once. But it smelled like food so Karin dug in almost shoveling the food into her mouth. It wasn't the worst thing she'd eaten by a country mile. "Thank you."

"Yea, No problem." Blondie sat next to her, his head banged on the hull of the ship with a satisfying thunk. "Oww."

"You're neck is supposed to hold your head up you know? I understand that you have a heavy head that's almost pure bone and it's why you're brain is so small, but your neck really should be used to it."

"It's so heavy Karin," Blondie complained rolling his head in her direction. "Can't you help."

He rolled his giant head onto her shoulder putting as much of his body weight as he could.

Karin took another bit of her food and snorted. "Just don't start drooling, we're probably going to be sleeping like this."

Her leg had already fallen asleep long ago.

He took his head off of her and folded his hands in his lap only a vague blur gave Karin the notion that he was twiddling his thumbs. "Hey, umm can I ask you something?"

"You just did." Karin balled the leather-like wrapping her food had been in and tossed it out into the cargo hold. "But it's not like we have anything else to do except sleep."

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me more about the Uzumaki."

"Huh? Why?" Karin scrunched her face up, was that dark presence inside of Blondie leaking out? Was this her fault?

"Well, it's just that whenever you talk about them I get really excited." He smiled at her. "It just kind of feels like I'm learning something I should know about ya'know?"

Karin sighed. "I don't mind, but are you sure you want to know about a dead clan, I mean I could be the last Uzumaki."

And if there were others they certainly made no effort in trying to find her. Not that she wanted anything to do with them, to begin with.

"Nah, I don't think that's the case." He pointed to himself. "I mean I could be an Uzumaki too for all I know."

"Pfft," Karin snorted. "You an Uzumaki? You don't look anything like an Uzumaki."

"Huh? What do you mean? How do Uzumaki look?"

Karin held up a strand of her red hair and dangled it in his direction. "For starters, all Uzumaki have red hair, not blond, red. We also don't have regular eyes, Uzumaki eyes range from red to purple, we're also pale. So in terms of looks, you're not an Uzumaki."

He was frowning probably. She really couldn't tell, whatever light had managed to find its way into their dark closet was quickly fading.

"Ooooh, man I'd probably look cool with red hair! Being an Uzumaki sounds great." He sounded so happy.

"It's not really." Karin brought her knees to her chest and frowned. "People treat you like an outsider wherever you go even if you were born at the place, all because of some stupid red hair. There were even other redheads in my village. It wasn't fair why was I picked on? Why did they hate me? Just because I was an Uzumaki? I didn't choose to be born this way."

Tears fell from her eyes. She didn't want to cry. Not here, not with him. She was the strong smart one. She needed to be in control. She was the one that made things happen. Blondie was just her muscles. He didn't need to know any of this.

A blanket was wrapped around her and Blondie pulled her in tight. "I'm sorry,"

Was he crying to? Why was he crying?

"Just shut up okay," She sniffled burying her head in his shirt again. Her life was shit, but that was no reason to cry about it. All that she could do was try to make a not shit life for herself. And to do that she needed to get blondie back his memories so she could worm her way into his life like a parasite.

"I'm happy you were born, just the way you are."

"I said shut up, now go to sleep."

XXXX

Damn brat! What makes you think you can do this and not get punished!

We'd be better off if you were never born.

Stay away from him, dear.

Stay away from me Naruto!

Naruto you idiot!

Naruto sit down!

Naruto.

Naruto. Naruto.

Naruto… That was his name, wasn't it?

The ship groaned, and the dark room he was sharing with Karin was painful cold outside of the blanket they were sharing. He could barely feel his toes. Carefully he pulled his feet back under the blanket, brushing up against Karin's bare feet. And making her squirm under at their coldness.

With a groan that sounded like an angry piglet, his redheaded friend dug her face deeper into his shoulder while somehow making certain that most of her face was still covered by the blanket. She looked cute.

Even her snoring was cute.

Wait that wasn't important right now. Well, it was, probably, but that wasn't the point! He had a name. "Karin, hey Karin."

"I said shut up." Her hand shot up from the blanket and pushed on his face before it dove back down gripping his collar. "I'm having a dream where you're cute and not an idiot."

"You dream about me?"

A single red eye glared at him from beneath the covers. "Only because you're so annoying I dream of the day you're not so loud."

Ouch.

"But hey wait you should be happy about this." Naruto smiled shaking her with his shoulder. "I finally remembered my name."

"Is it the name of some rich and noble prince?" She grumbled trying to pull more of the blanket around her. But gave up when he wasn't giving her any more.

"What? No. It's Naruto!" It felt great to say his name again. "My name is Naruto believe it."

She sighed. "Look, I know you like ramen enough to dream about it but there's no way you're named after a ramen topping. Who the hell would name their kid that?"

"It's a ramen topping?"

"Yes, it was the white star thing with the red spiral in it. That's a Naruto." Karin grumbled. "So that's not you, besides if I had to call you Naruto all the time I'd probably be hungry all the time."

"Aren't you always hungry though."

"Uzumaki," She half yawned half grumbled smacking her lips twice. "Uzumaki eat a lot of food."

"I eat a lot of food," Naruto said to himself mostly. "Naruto Uzumaki, it has a nice ring to it."

That woke Karin up. She emerged from the blanket her hung loosely around her face and her eyes were half closed with sleep and half closed with a glare. It looked cute. He should annoy her more often. She was cute when she was mad annoyed at him. "Unless you're a rich prince and you want to marry me and take my last name for whatever reason don't call yourself Naruto Uzumaki. It just sounds stupid. Why not a cooler last name like Namikaze or something."

"Naruto Namikaze?" Naruto snorted. "That sounds stupid, Naruto Uzumaki sounds so much better."

"Fine I'll call you Naruto," Karin groaned and dove back into the blanket. "No last name until you can actually remember it got it? Don't make stuff up just because it sounds cool."

She struggled to get comfortable before she groaned and punched him lightly on his leg. "Dammit, this is your fault now I can't sleep. It's too damn cold."

Naruto just smiled. "Well I hope you do get comfortable I like laying like this with you. It's nice."

She tensed before she punched him again. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that so this won't be awkward the next time we're forced to share a bed. It's not worth it to save money."

That didn't stop her from trying to find the comfortable spot again. Eventually, she was using his shoulder as a pillow again. "Fuck it's cold, so did you remember anything else?"

"Just an old guy calling me a brat and being told away to stay away from people. I wonder what I did."

Karin tensed. "Probably nothing. People are stupid like that. Don't let it bother you."

She yawned her body relaxing. "Your brain isn't big enough for you to worry about something like that."

 **AN: New chapter! And the first time we see Naruto's point of view! Hope you all enjoyed it! Anyways, I'm probably going to start a RWBY fic (Yes I know I have enough damn fics going as it is.) but fear not This should be one of the ones I actually update... probably.**

 **Anyways until next time!**


	6. Chapter 6

Komain City was far from a shining jewel, less than half of the port city was actually built on land, with the vast majority of the city being built on the bridge that spanned between the islands. Some of the bridges were made of motor and stone, while others were made from the wreckage of ships, often times whole hulls were turned into shops, homes, or various other buildings.

It was fitting for a people that lived just as much on the water as they did off it.

Karin Stretched in the midday sun as her feet finally touched solid ground. She had missed the feeling of stillness, and actually being able to fully stretch her body. Seriously being trapped in that dull grey room must have made her shrink an inch. "Ahh, the air feels so good!"

Even if it did smell like salt, and fish in various states of decay.

"Yea," Naruto said from her right shouldering both of their bags while she took a moment to get her legs back under her feet. "So is the wave?"

"No, it's not. Seriously, you're the one that can actually read the map, this is Komain City," Karin rolled her eyes and folded her arms with a huff. Seriously, Naruto's sense of direction was so bad that was probably how he lost his memories. Still felt weird to think of him as that, and not Blondie.

"Oh," He did that open mouth thing where he pretends like he understood something. "So then, what are we doing here?"

Karin smiled and grabbed her bag off of Naruto's shoulders. She wasn't so naive as to think that a port city was safe, and their generous pile of money was strapped tightly to their chests. That way if some clever pickpocket was able to pickpocket one of them they'd still have half their wealth. Which would suck.

"We're here because the boat took us here." Karin stuck her tongue out at Naruto, even if she couldn't exactly see his face she knew he was not amused. "But really, we're here for two reasons, well three. First get me some glasses so I can see if you look as stupid as you sound."

"Hey!"

"What? I'm joking! But I do want to see." Karin gave him a light shove. "Two, get a boat that's going to the wave country. And lastly, if we need to wait, find someplace to stay that has a warm bed and good food."

"Oooh, okay." he took her hand, pulling her along down the pier. "So what should I be looking for?"

"Look for a place with a lot of shops, preferably a place that looks nice, like on one of the islands, and look for a shop that has glasses on it I guess." She honestly had no clue. "We could try asking around for an optometrist, that might be the best way."

While Naruto lead her through the web like streets that were anchored around the islands Karin began to focus, this was her first time being in a city like this. She had felt it as they came into port, but now she wanted to see the city from the inside with her mind's eye.

Thousands of candles appeared around her, each on flickering with life and vitality. It was a beautiful sight to behold, even if they paled next to the light that was Naruto's chakra. It was more chakra signatures than she'd seen at any one time, even Konoha which flared to life with powerful ninja paled in comparison to the sheer volume of people that drifted about the port city.

"So is this a place?" Naruto came to a sudden halt on an offshoot of a busy street built out of the wreckage of ships, somehow, despite the bulk of people living on it the wood barely creaked, even with numerous holes revealing the murky water where the river met the sea below them.

Karin shook her head and looked up at the vague direction Naruto was pointing. It looked like the back half of a ship was turned into a shop, with its massive sail turning into free advertisement. "Does it say Optometrist, or have glasses on it?"

"Sure does! Come on let's go!" Before she could speak he pulled her into the shop.

XXXX

The shop smelled of mildew, salt, and old. That was all Karin knew about it as the old miser that ran the place seemed to perk up at the idea of a customer or two. She had been sitting in a chair while he fiddled with knobs and doodads alike to try and get the correct glasses for her.

"Now theen my deear," The old man slurred, licking his toothless gums for the upteenth time. "I belieeve, that I may have a pair of speecticals that may do you, for now, or you could do a speecial ordeer. And I could have a pair just for you in a feew days."

"I just want to see again," Karin said softly. It didn't matter if they were ugly and made her look bug eyed. Okay it did but she could totally live with whatever let her actually see. At Least until she found out where Naruto lived and then shacked up with him and made him buy her a new pair of glasses. Ones with red frames. "And we're kind of in a hurry, so I'll take what you got."

"Veery good my deear." The Oldman clapped his hands and licked his lips again. "Just a moment now."

Karin watched as his mass of grey hair bumbled about the room, pulling at numerous different boxes and tubes. Until at last, he pulled out a dull brown box that looked like he was holding a rotten fish.

"Heere, give theese a try."

The world shifted in clarity, going from blurs of color and motion to slightly fuzzy clarity. She could make out shapes! She could see detail, the wood was no longer just one color, but instead had texture that she could see!

She was crying, actually crying. It had been way too long since she had seen any kind of detail, even if things were still kind of blurry, she could still see in detail if she focused and strained her eyes.

"Weell missy? Can ya seee?" The old man asked his voice sounded more like a whistle that actual speaking.

Karin bit her lip and nodded. With laser-focus, she stared at the chart on the other side of the room. She could read! For the first time in weeks, she could actually read! "They're perfect, I'll take them."

She was still crying as she said that. A smile permanently plastered on her face.

"They make you look kinda funny," Naruto said from his spot in the corner. She had almost forgotten about him. Her traveling companion who had been nothing but a blond blur up until this point.

She felt her heart quicken as she looked at him for the first time. He was still blond, he still had the blue eyes that she managed to make out on his face a few times before. He wasn't exactly cute, but he wasn't ugly either. "Shut-up you idiot, I can see now, but you're stuck being an idiot cause they don't sell brains here."

"No, but I do know a guy." The wrinkly old man hummed tapping his fingers against his cheek, bone. "But, eenough of your loveer's quarreel, leet's talk, money."

Karin felt her face heat up, her and Naruto? As if! There was no way that he was anything more to her than a lacky. If he was lucky he might one day get upgraded to brother status. "Just tell me how much."

After a few minutes of haggling, Karin finally managed to get the price down to something that wasn't horribly overpriced.

Karin burst out from the shop, a few tears still clung to her eyes, even as her face was red from embarrassment and her mood spoiled by the cost of her glasses. "Can you believe that guy? He totally overcharged me."

"You got them for half off though." Her oh so very naive companion said, his face twisted in confusion. "I thought it was a pretty good price!"

"And that's why I'm the one doing the talking," Karin huffed, she kept looking at Naruto's face, what was with those whisker marks, and did he always have to look so happy? "Now come on, let's see if we can find a boat that will take us to the Land of Waves."

She held out her hand for Naruto to take. He stared at her hand for a few moments before he scratched the back off of his head. "Uhh, do you still need me to guide you? You can see now right?"

"Oh," Why did she sound so disappointed? She could see now! She was a strong independent woman and she didn't need Naruto to hold her hand. He was just a means to an end now, a good safe home that wasn't going to use her. And if he couldn't do that, then she had no business with him. "Right, well follow me!"

XXXX

"There's only one bed," Naruto said, his eyes were locked on the hammock that was strung across their room.

"Don't complain," Karin grumbling sliding her pack onto the ground. "They were cheap, and they were leaving today straight to the Land of Waves."

"Yea but it means I'll have to sleep on the ground." Naruto sighed and placed his back on the floor as well, as he began to rummage for his bedroll.

"Since when have I ever made you sleep on the floor when there was an actual bed?" Karin crossed her arms and pouted, did she really seem like the kind of girl that would do that? Just force a boy to sleep on the ground? Well she would, but this was Naruto it wouldn't even be the first time they fell under the same blanket. "Nah, we're sharing the hammock."

"Really? Are you sure? I haven't bathed in a couple of days."

"And I have? No, we're going to be sleeping in the same bed, all dirty and gross right next to each other." Karin blinked after she said all that. This was probably why people kept saying they were a couple, wasn't it? It couldn't be further from the truth, Naruto was just like an overly eager puppy to her. One that she was trying to train into a loyal guard dog.

It was perfectly natural for people to share a bed with their pets.

"Hehe," Naruto laughed rubbing his nose with a wide smile on his face. She liked that smile, even if it did look stupid. "Thank's Karin you're the best."

Great, why was her face feeling hot? And why did she keep looking at stupid Naruto's stupid face with that stupid smile. She needed to stop looking at him and look at something else, but the only thing here was the dull wood of the ships inside. She should have bought a book while she was on shore! "Tell me something I don't know."

"Uhh… you look cute when you pout?"

"I was being facetious!"

"I don't know what that means."

Of course, he didn't.

XXXX

On the night of their second night at sea, the ship was creaking as a storm appeared out of nowhere and began to thrash the ship like it was a child's plaything. It had been going too smoothly, she should have to know that it was going to end horribly.

The hammock served as a dampener to the ships tossing, somehow staying attached as wave after wave crashed into the ship sending it every which way.

Karin held onto Naruto for dear life. Why her? Why did this have to happen to her! It was sunny just a few days ago! She didn't want to die here in the middle of the ocean thanks to some stupid storm!

Thunder cracked and Karin screamed. It was so close that she could feel the air tingle with its energy. She pulled herself tighter to Naruto if such a thing was even possible, as they were both bound to the Hammock in a desperate attempt to not be sent tumbling every which way.

"Why me!?" Karin cried burying her face in Naruto's shirt, her glasses the only thing that stopped his shirt from being stained with her tears. "What did I do to deserve this?"

She wasn't even a horrible person! If Karma existed it was a stupid asshole that couldn't count worth a damn. She had used up at least three live's worth of bad luck by now!

"It'll be okay Karin," Naruto half mumbled into her hair. He had his arms wrapped tight around her in a vain attempt to shelter her from the storm. "Don't worry, it's just a storm, nothing bad is going to happen."

He was going to jinx it and fuck everything up. Still, she managed to calm down after a few long breaths. She could feel the sailors toiling above deck, scrambling to make sure nothing bad would happen to the ship.

There was a sudden rise that kept going up and up and up. Then for a brief moment, the entire ship was floating, before the crash and the entire ship splintered into a hundred pieces. She tried to find out what was going on. She tried to hold onto Naruto, she tried to stay sane.

But the waters took her, pulling her towards and away from Naruto. Rain poured down on top of her and it was impossible to know which way was up when the water sent her towards.

She clawed at everything, desperate to find something to cling onto, something that floated, something that had a hopefully still alive Naruto holding onto it as well. She found a plank or something, it was wooden, rough, and gave her splinters, but most importantly it floated.

The world was nothing but darkness, rain, and ocean.

"Naruto!" Karin shouted, desperately trying to keep her head out of the water. Where was he? Had he to be here somewhere right? This wasn't the end of their journey, was it? No! She needed him to be alive!

With a desperate focus, Karin searched for him with her mind's eye. It was easy to find Naruto, his chakra was like a second sun to her, even that terrifying beast that lurks within him was a welcome sight compared to the storm that raged around her.

He was close, but getting further away as though the sea was trying to keep them apart.

"Naruto!" Karin shouted, getting splashed with sea water the moment she opened her mouth. No response. Was he okay? Did he get knocked out again? She kicked her legs in a vain attempt to get closer to him, but she could do nothing to fight against the storm.

She had to do something, anything! The chain! The floodgate opened, two chains shot out from her back like extra limbs, glowing a soft green that ignited the sky. They homed in on to Naruto and wrapped around him, moving through the water as easily as they did through air.

It was impossible to tell if she was pulling him to her, or if she was pulling herself to him, as the sea continued to rage. They would get through this. They had to.

She got glimpses of Naruto's blond hair thanks to the glimmer of her chains, but more than that his warm chakra enveloped her, and she allowed herself to bask in its warmth once more, well aware of the darkness that was nipping at her heels. It was better than the bitter cold of the sea.

With one arm wrapped around Naruto's body - he wasn't moving - she gave him the lion's share of her own personal life raft, her chain was wrapped tightly around him. "I'm not going to lose you okay, we'll get through this."

She was in for a long night filled with nothing but rain, wet, cold, and misery, Naruto's chakra was her only saving grace.

 **AN: Hey look an update that isn't in the middle of the day. Sorry this chapter took so long (Though long for me is still fast compared to other people) this chapter was a bit awkward to write and it was a major point on where I wanted to take this fic. I was tempted to go for the boat, or to simply have Gaara show up and clear somethings up. I think I made the right choice. Let me know!**


	7. Chapter 7

A light fog blanket the land, sapping away what little heat and joy there could be found on the beach. The sand was thick, closer to the gravelly shores of a creek than a proper seaside paradise, and various items little the shore as though it was the oceans dumping ground with wooden planks and entire trees uprooted and carried for thousands of miles before they crashed ashore on this lost beach.

Naruto awoke, to his face being pushed up against the sand, his body numb with cold, while his stomach twisted violently from the motion. What happened? Where was he? Why was he in the ocean? A crude burning bile lurched from his mouth, as his stomach demanded he moved out the cold ocean and do something.

His entire body was awake now the events playing through his mind in a jumbled clip show of shouting and screaming, their boat had crashed. He puked and wiped his mouth. Karin! She had tried to save him! He needed to find her!

Just like he needed to find Sasuke.

That word was branded into his mind by a white hot Iron. It meant so many things. Friend, brother, traitor, teammate, jerk, rival. No That was important right now. Karin! He needed to find Karin… she was… she was important. Whoever Sasuke was, he was in the past. Karin was now, and she… she needed him.

"Karin?!" Naruto shouted, coughing up more of the salty bile, he wasn't sure where the liquid was coming from, perhaps both his stomach and his lungs were trying to evacuate themselves a the same time. "Karin!"

No response. She had to be here somewhere right? He had to find her! Ignoring the ache in every part of his body Naruto began to move along the beach. He had to find her. He had to. "Karin!"

There were bits of the boat around them, or at least bits of a boat, it was hard to tell if they were all from the same one. But if he was here, then Karin had to be too. There was just no way that she wasn't.

The wind blew bringing back that biting chill that sucked the strength from his bones. A whistling sound from the rocky cliff that sandwiched the beach to the ocean drew his attention. And then he saw her.

"Karin!" Naruto shouted, his heart beat with joy and worry all at once. He found her! He found her! He stumbled, as his legs kicked up more of the gravel with each step forward. He came to a crashing slide next to her, the round rocks providing no cushion.

It was Karin! Her red hair was impossible to miss, even as a bit of seaweed stuck out of it. She looked pale, paler than normal, and her lips were blue. She was cold to the touch, barely warmer than the sea. A panic washed over Naruto. No, she couldn't be dead. She… She couldn't.

How did he know that she was dead? What was it? Damn, why didn't he remember anything useful!

"Karin!" He grabbed her pulling her up onto his lap. Shaking her shoulder as lightly as his shivering hands would let him. "Hey, Karin wake up! Karin! Please wake up!"

Her eyes flashed open, they were bloodshot, and then she coughed, saltwater exiting her lungs before she passed out again. She was alive! Relief flooded over Naruto as he felt a tear begin to fall from his eye. She's alive.

But she could still die.

He needed to keep her warm. He needed a fire. And someplace dry. Securing her onto his back Naruto began to move forward, his wet jacket providing what small amount of warmth it could to Karin. He had a lot of ground to cover, and hopefully, he could find a place to get dry and warm.

Over the course of his journey, the fog began to wane, being pulled out to the sea before it would surge back in once more.

Tangled brown plants and trees both alive and dead clung to the top of the cliffs their branches forever facing away from the sea due to the ocean breezes. A thousand smaller islands began to appear out in the ocean, all of them were moss covered hunks topped with a white icing of bird shit.

Ships, both small and large began to appear along the shore, some large, some small, others little more than splinters, while some lucky few looked to be largely intact while still submerged in the water. A few even made it all the way to the shore before they came to a stop.

It was one such ship that Naruto decided to enter, was a small ship split in half, with its front sticking out of the sand like it was buried up to its neck. The rear of the ship blocked a small alcove in the cliff side, that would be sheltered from the wind.

To get to the entrance he had to squeeze between the ship and the cliff. He was rewarded with a dry, place protected from the elements. "Welcome home Karin, well at least for now."

XXXX

The fire roared with a dull ferocity, sending a light grey pillar of smoke out into the open air. Some of their clothing rested near the flames drying; flames dancing ever closer. Naruto munched on the bit ration he had managed to salvage from one of the ships. He was fairly certain that it wasn't spoiled. Or at least he hoped as much considering it's all he had eaten in the past hour, for all he knew these things could be a hundred years old.

Karin was positioned as close to the fire as he dared to let her, she was wrapped snuggly in whatever dry cloth he could scrounge up. Hopefully, she wasn't going to be mad at him for losing everything. She should be grateful! He technically saved her life.

"Naruto?" Karin groaned, her eyes blinking open for the first time. She stirred turning around quickly, her still bloodshot eyes turning to look at him.

"Karin!" Naruto jumped up and sprinted towards her kicking some of the thick sand at her as she came to a stop. "You're okay! You are okay right?"

She glared at him before she shot up, going from laying down to standing so fast she skipped the steps in between. "No, I'm not okay! You Idiot!"

Naruto took a step back, some instinct in the back of his mind telling him that he was about to be hit hard. "Karin wait I…"

"No shut up!" Karin growled walking forward. "This is all your fault! If I hadn't found you I wouldn't have been on that ship. Because I wouldn't have been trying to go to the Wave of all places! I'd probably have a bed of my own I'd probably actually have glasses! Instead, all I have is some idiot that is too stupid to realize that he's cursed to ruin my life at every turn!"

She took a step forward and began to hit him on the chest, her blows lacked fury and strength, and quickly died down to nothing but pats. Her head fell to his chest and her breathing turned to sobs. Handfuls of his shirt were gripped tightly in her knuckles. "Dammit, dammit dammit."

They fell to the ground and his arms pulled her into a hug. What was he supposed to when she was crying? He didn't know! What was going on? "Karin?"

"Shut-up," She shook him with all of her might. "Just shut up and let me be happy that you're alive for half a second. Okay?"

"Yea, sure, okay."

He had no idea how long Karin cried into his chest, or when he had wrapped the blanket around them both, his eyes locked onto her shivering form. The sky began to darken and the chill fog began to roll back in. A dull roar from the crashing waves signaled the coming of the tide.

"Karin?" he dared to ask finally, she gave as happy of a grumble as she could manage. "When I was umm taking off some of your clothes to dry, I umm noticed that you umm have a lot of bite-"

"You saw them?!" Karin spun, away from him tripping on her own two feet. She pulled the blanket around her tightly, exposing him to the cold air. "You saw them didn't you?"

"What are they?" He should not have said that. He should not have said that. But she had kept them hidden from him, not once had she ever been without a long sleeve shirt, or some other garment covering her arms.

"They're horrible and ugly and that's all you need to know about them!" She pulled the blanket up around her tighter, covering her entire body save her head. Her two red eyes glared at him with all the hatred she could muster.

Naruto scratched the back of his head and looked towards the sand. This was different, different from when Karin was being annoyed or bossy with him. Those were fine, he even liked those moments as her personality shined out. But this… this was different. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

With a huff, Karin turned away from him. Her red hair dancing in the firelight. It was impossible not to look at her. Like his eyes were drawn to the way her hair stuck out on one side, or the way it flew away from her neck like a birds feather or the way her nose turned red when she was mad. She was cute when she was mad.

But this-this was different. She upset with him. What was he supposed to do? Talking might make her worse, leaving would really make her mad, getting close would probably just make it worse.

Tears pooled in her eyes and she looked at him, then with a sniffle, she pulled the blanket over her head sealing herself away from him.

He messed up. He didn't know why, or how, just that she was sad and it was his fault. It made his stomach feel like he had eaten a pit that was swallowing everything in his body leaving him an empty vessel.

"I'm hungry," Karin mumbled, the sky was dyed orange from the setting sun, and their clothes had long since dried, but Naruto only dared to tend the fire, less he rouse Karin's Ire.

"Oh right!" Naruto jumped up scrambling over to what little food he had managed to gather. "It's not much, and I'm not sure if it's good but,"

She ignored him and ripped a sealed jar out of his hands, tearing off the lid with a pop. she sniffed it once, her eyes locked onto its contents for a moment before she shrugged and began to shovel some kind of a purple jelly into her mouth with her hand.

"It's not bad," she slurred, a bit of jelly clinging to her mouth. "Not good, but I've had worse."

"Are you done being mad at me?"

She glared at him from under the blanket, her jelly covered fingers frozen above the lid of the jar. "For now. But don't push it. I'm still blaming you for everything."

"Yea, say do you know where we are?" Naruto scooted on his knees towards her, digging his hand into the sands.

"Well, considering all I've seen is your ugly blur, a blur of warm I'm calling a fire, some sandy blur, and a blurred background, oh and I can hear the ocean, so I yea I have a good idea of where we are." she stared into the jar, trying to scrape out as much of its contents as possible. Her hand now stained a light purple color halfway to her elbow.

"You do? Where?" Naruto jumped.

"Yep," She tossed the jar to the side and began to wipe her hand on jacket to remove the jelly. Okay, so maybe she was still kind of mad at him. She flicked back her blanket made cowl and gave him a giant smile. "We're fucking lost."

"Oh." He really should have seen that coming. "So what do we do now?"

"I'm going to relax and pretend that this is all just a horrible dream and that I'm safe and sound asleep in a nice warm bed with my glasses nearby." She shrugged, reaching for her outer layer of clothing. "At least for tonight, tomorrow I'll probably blame you some more and try to figure out where we are."

That sounded like a good plan. Besides, ti was getting dark. "Oh, hey want to see the sunset?"

She sighed her look was heavy and weary, "honestly, I'd just like to see period, but sure, just turn around and let me get dressed. And thanks for you know, not taking off my underwear."

"I figured if I did that one of us would end up dead."

"And here I thought you couldn't teach an idiot new tricks."

He led her up the back of the boat, their feet dangling that they used as an arm and headrest. Without the fog, the dangerous beauty of their location could be seen in whole. Boats of all shapes and sizes were half swallowed or thrown onto rocks, their hulls splintered and deformed from the violent seas around them. The destruction wasn't localized either, it was everywhere on the beach, the entire horizon was filled with wreckage and spires of rocks jutting out from the sea like destructive fingers trying to tear apart everything. The furthest object he could see was a large ship unmoving, it's mast replaced by a stone pillar as though a giant picked it up and left it there.

The water itself was anything but forgiving, the ocean waves crashed into the rocks, shattering like glass before forming up again and rushing ever forward, at times the waves converged smashing into another, then fleeing away. But most prominent were the whirlpools that appeared and vanished at random, some lasting for minutes only to form again seconds later and collapse just as fast.

"They're scars," Karin swallowed, her eyes glued on the setting sun. Tears were being formed "The bite marks I mean."

He stared at her, trying to read her face. She rolled up one of her sleeves and showed a bite mark to him. "I have the ability to give people some of my life force when they bite me, kind of like a reverse vampire, it hurts and leaves an ugly scar but it heals them too."

"And all those bites? Were they from your village?" Naruto asked. His eyes were locked onto the mark, he felt a bit of bile rise up the back of his throat, it wasn't that they were disgusting, but just the thought of someone doing that to Karin was enough.

She nodded. "Yea, when my mom came to the village she offered her ability as payment, they gave her and my dad a shitty little shack, near the river. When they died it became my responsibility."

"And why did you freak out about them?"

"Cause they're ugly." She rolled down her sleeve and looked at him, her eyes shaking as she tried to focus on him. "And I don't like people seeing them."

He felt something bubble up inside of him again. That same notion that came when he thought of that name Sasuke, that same feeling he did when he first met Karin. And the words flowed from his mouth without a thought. "Don't worry Karin, I promise that you'll never have to use that ability ever again."

Her eyes went wide and her mouth that smile of hers that she only seemed to give him. It was abrasive, rude, and full of mirth. She gave a laugh and scooted towards him. Her head falling to his shoulder, eyes facing the setting sun. "Don't make promises you can't keep Naruto if it means saving your life I want you to promise you'd let me use my power on you."

He stared at her head, enjoying the small amount of warmth she just seemed to bring everywhere and the way her hair tickled his arm. "Okay, but I'm the only one allowed to bite you okay?"

"You aren't the boss of me Naruto, but sure. You're the only one I'd let bite me."

This was a weird relationship stage.

 **AN: Man I'm so happy with how this slow burn is turning out! Anyways! hope you all enjoyed this chapter! i know I loved writing it! Up next should be an Update for Crazy Stupid Love a Gaara x Fem Naruto fic where everybody is trying to stay sane (Okay not everybody some are leaping in head first) Then perhaps my RWBY fics Born a Grimm and Gilded Rose.**


	8. Chapter 8

It was official.

Karin had no idea where the fuck they were. They could be on the mainland or even an island in the middle of the ocean that people avoided because ships seemed to magically explode whenever they got near the damn place. She certainly hoped that this was just an angry piece of coast on the mainland.

With a sigh Karin focused, gathering strength in her mind's eye, stretching it as far as she could searching for any human. Anybody at all. She might as well be looking for the stars during a stormy night. There was her, and then there was Naruto. But other than that there was nothing.

Wait… no, she had…

"Did you find anything?"

Karin snapped open her eyes to glare at her traveling companion, or at least the vague general shape of him. She missed her glasses. It was hard to tell if he was actually as afraid of her as he should be. Not that he should be afraid of her, damn idiot was growing on her in the worse ways possible. "I did until some loud mouth interrupted me."

"Oh, do you know where they are? I can go shut them up for you." Fantastic he was getting snarky with her. If it was anybody else she'd probably throw her shoe at them. If she had shoes.

"Ha. Ha. Ha." Karin breathed sliding her tongue between her teeth. She adjusted her sitting and tried to relax again. "I think I see something, but no people, just give me a second to find out what it is."

"Oh okay," He sounded like a puppy that just got told it wasn't play time. Both confused and disappointed. She was not his source of entertainment!

Even if she wasn't entirely sick of spending time with him. But that was an internal debate for when she wasn't trying to be responsible and saving their lives.

Back into focusing.

Now that she knew there was something there it was easy to find. Chakra, it was old and dusty like opening a box that had been shut tight for years. It wasn't human, or at least not in the general sense, it was from a human, that much was certain.

She expanded her view, taking in as much of the chakra as she could find. It was a massive array of long swirling rivers of chakra that was flowing in every direction. The more she looked at it the more the patterns began to appear, it looked like a giant seal was woven into the earth.

But it was broken in places. A few cracks, a few missing paths and whatever the seal once did was lost.

"I think…" She didn't know what to think. No, she knew exactly what to think, its name was as present in her mind as Naruto's warm chakra was. But she wanted to be wrong, she wanted to be very very wrong and that they weren't where she thought they were. "I think I see a city, but I don't think anybody lives there."

"Should we go check it out though? There might be a clue to where we are." Naruto offered her a hand up, she could easily make out the white of his teeth even without her glasses.

"When you smile like that does it hurt?"

"Huh?" He tilted his head like a confused puppy. "Why would it hurt? I always smile like that."

"Honestly I don't think it's possible for me to smile as big as you do. My mouth is too small." She stroked her chapped lips to gauge the size of her mouth. Wait, no this wasn't important. She needed to stop thinking about Naruto's mouth and how it compared to hers. "Anyway yea, let's head towards the city. There might be a be something there."

Like food, or a bed, or a boat, or a map. Or something.

XXXX

"Uzushiogakure," Naruto said loudly. "Any idea where that is?"

Karin groaned, placing her head into her palm. It was all she could do to not cry. She hated when she was right. She really really hated it. "Remember how you wanted to know a lot about the Uzumaki?"

"Yea?"

"Well, welcome to the land of whirlpools, home of the Uzumaki, current population us." This could not be any worse. They were stuck on an island, that just plain didn't have people on it. Or at least none on this side of the island.

For all of Karin's lack of enthusiasm, Naruto had just as much enthusiasm and then some. He jumped nearly a foot in the air cheering. "What no way! Awesome!"

"You idiot," Karin growled. "Don't you know what this means? We're stuck on an abandoned island!"

"Ahh, come on Karin don't be like that," Naruto whined she could hear him slapping his legs as he flailed about. "There has to be something here that can get us off the island, how did everybody else leave when they abandoned it?"

"Fine, whatever, we'll go into the ruined city and find a bunch of rocks and stuff." She stomped forward along the batted main road that led into the city. "Oh, maybe we'll find a wrecked boat that we can use to sink and end up right back where we started."

She tripped on a bit of uneven ground, Naruto was there in a heartbeat, catching her in that tender way he so often did. Once again he wrapped his hand around hers and led the way. "I don't understand why you're not excited about being here."

"Because being an Uzumaki has done nothing but make people hate me, because of my stupid red hair." She tightened her grip on Naruto's hand, bastard was way too good at making her open up. "I don't understand why you're so excited."

"I mean, you're the only Uzumaki I know, and you saved my life, you're awesome, nice, kind, well most of the time… okay some of the time, but mostly I just I don't know I feel excited whenever we talk about them. Besides," He gave her that giant grin of his that caused the temperature to rise at least 2 degrees. "I like your hair, it's really pretty."

"Thanks, but just because its pretty doesn't mean it isn't a pain in the ass." Karin ran her free hand through her hair. Her cheeks and ears felt warm, heart drumming just enough for her to feel it. And she couldn't help but smile. "It stands out, gets me in trouble, and is always a mess, no matter how much I comb it one side always ends up sticking up."

"I'm sure it looks great when you actually have a comb."

"That coming from somebody that has permanent bedhead is a bit underhanded."

"Can't I give you a compliment without you breaking it down?"

"Nope."

Winding twisting roads that seemed to be incapable of going straight, weaved its way through the decrepit city like a giant snake. Not a single building was made of wood, all of them were dull grey blocky monoliths that stood in contrast to the winding street. But each building was unique in its own way, specifically built to stand where it stood, and etched with wild spirals that climbed up them like stoney ivy.

Even though the people were long gone, its structures still stood. And will stand for many more years to come.

Karin closed her eyes, trusting Naruto more than she should to lead her down a stable path. Now that she was inside the city she could see its chakra for what it really was. A giant seal, not just the chakra but the city itself. One single major pathways of chakra flowed through the city on top of the only road that branched and forked and turned back into itself, branching into the buildings where they traced the stone like vines climbing every structure.

Now that she could see the chakra, she could feel it in the air. But what was it holding? Was it holding anything? What could such a vast array be holding? Did she even want to know? And could it still hold it?

Was that even its purpose? Could there even be something so massive that they needed an entire city to seal it? No, the seal had to have some alternative purpose. Unfortunately, her knowledge of sealing was limited.

"Hey Karin," Naruto said shaking her out of her repour. He pointed up a hill where a massive structure loomed. "What do you think that is?"

Karin blinked, she could still see the lines of chakra as clearly as she could in her mind's eye, overlayed perfectly on top of the streets and buildings. They were standing in a massive river of chakra. Leading towards the point where Naruto was pointing. She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. "I think that's the nexus."

She could feel it calling to her. Something was there. Something that was hers.

"Do you think we should go check it out?"

She could only nod.

XXXX

The nexus point hummed as the river of chakra swirled around it, diving in and out of the massive stone building. It was both the most impressive and most destroyed building, with half of its massive dome missing. It was asymmetrical in its design with soft flowing curves crashing into harsh geometrical shapes that were only compounded by the destruction that had been wrought.

The ground was littered with mass spirals made from smoothed river stone that also seemed to draw the chakra into something.

It called to her, whatever was inside of there was calling to her.

"Karin?" she heard Naruto call after her. She ignored him, walking forward intent on her goal. "Are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine." She turned to look at him, she couldn't see his chakra and it was almost impossible to see him through the swirling tides that engulfed both of them. "Don't you feel that though? That energy?"

"I guess," Naruto shrugged following after her.

Once they were within the threshold of the building it gave off a dull hum, and dull blue lights lit up the hallway, one of the few straight paths in the entire city. Lining both sides of the hallway were corpses. It wasn't the first they had seen here, but it was the first time they saw Ninja.

Each had a simple spiral carved into a headband or piece of armor. There were no enemies, no foreign ninja, no missing-nin. All of the corpses here were ninja loyal to their village killed by another ninja loyal to the village.

"What happened here?" Karin wasn't sure which one of them asked that question. But neither one could know for certain, there is something that would be lost to annals of time.

The light of the midday sun shined through the shattered dome bathing the room in a warm light, highlighting the colorful room that looked like six rainbows had a party and puked all over everything. Art and seals became one in here with massive murals being made of dozens of intertwining seals.

And it all led to the back. Where a throne made of dull green glass sat empty, at its feet were several corpses that looked to have been thrown aside. When she was but a few feet away the throne pulsed and the chakra in the air fell towards it like a wave.

The entire seal shook.

It left Karin feeling breathless. Her hair standing on end as her entire body tingled with static electricity. This was what was calling her. This throne.

Naruto stood next to her, equally breathless and just as much in awe of the seat. "I kind of want to sit on it."

He walked past her, striding with that half overly-confident half completely stupid gait he had when he was doing something stupid. When he touched the throne it pulsed and a warning flailed in Karin's mind. "Wait Naruto don't!"

To late. The throne shined red, the air charged with electricity, and thunderstruck exploding at the feet of Naruto sending him tumbling backward. His body twitching.

"Ow," Naruto groaned his face buried in the ground. "What the hell is wrong with that thing? I just wanted to sit on it."

"I think…" Karin swallowed. "I think only an Uzumaki can sit on it, or at least I think only I can sit on it."

"Wait, what? Are you."

She ignored Naruto and pressed forward. Confident that the throne was for her. That it was calling to her and her alone. He just happened to overhear. This was the birthplace of the Uzumaki, her father was an Uzumaki, her mother was an Uzumaki. She was an Uzumaki.

She touched the throne. It touched her, for a moment she was the seal, she was the city, she felt its ache, its pain. And what it could do.

The throne welcomed her, glowing a brilliant green that flared with the chakra around them, the ancient seals and symbols alighting one after another. Soon the city was once again filled with chakra and lights.

Then there was a massive thrum. And the seal itself - the entire seal complex which was really just thousands upon thousands of smaller seals woven together - sprung to life. Through her mind's eye and the missing portion of the dome, she could see what its purpose was.

A massive barrier that covered the entire island. Had the seal been maintained, it would have been impenetrable. But now it was as useful as a leaky roof, with massive holes scatter about it.

All Hail Karin Uzumaki, rightful queen of the Uzumaki, long may she reign. A thousand voices chanted in unison.

"Wait What?" Kairn shot from the throne and stared at it. Hoping to get some kind of an answer, some kind of anything from the inanimate object.

Dust fell from the ceiling and the ground shook as the center of the room began to twist open as ancient gears sprung to life.

"What's happening? What was that voice? And why did they call you queen?" Naruto sputtered from the ground, crawling as to avoid the opening gap in the floor. Several small pedestals appeared, all but one of them were empty.

Karin walked towards it, her steps echoing where once they did not, as though the entire palace was bowing to her. On the pedestal was a necklace, or a pendant or something, made out of a solid green stone. It was hers.

Or at least she thought it was.

The stone was smooth and light in her hands, and she found herself slipping it around her neck without a second thought. Below it was a piece of paper with some kind of scribbling on it. "Hey Naruto can you read this?"

"Huh?" He groaned walking towards her, probably just as confused as her if not more so. "I guess so."

He took the paper unfolding it gently. "Let's see, 'I O U one scroll of seals and other bullshit. Kushina Uzumaki. P.S. The other stuff was already taken, just be happy I left you the stupid necklace."

"That bitch." Karin huffed folding her arms. A scroll-like that could have been worth a lot of money! Hell, a secret scroll full of sealing from the Uzumaki could have bought her three castles! Probably, she didn't really know what the black market price for these kinds of things.

"Hey, at least you got a cool necklace out of it." Naruto poked her new necklace. "But what was with those voices and the whole queen…"

The ground shook again. Dust fell from the dome. An earthquake. A big one. Shaking the very foundation of the city. It was the chakra it was running wild, and growing in ferocity. Now that it had woken up. It wanted out. The cracks in the seal were splitting consuming it.

"We need to run!" Karin grabbed Naruto's hand and pushed him forward. "Go! quick! Get us out of the city! Now!"

To further punctuate her point part of ceiling collapsed. Shattering the throne. Which only made things worse. Much much worse. The ground crumbled beneath their feet.

Naruto got the point. He ran, pulling her along with him. Bouts of flames shot out of the ground. Lightning struck. Earth formed. Tornado's ripped. Water swallowed buildings whole. An apocalypse of chakra.

The barrier was failing, it's already damaged form burning away like a paper.

But among all the chaos, a single stream of chakra has lit the way, heading down towards the river. "Head towards the river! Naruto!"

"Right!"

A bolt of lightning tore through the earth where they once stood moments ago.

The city was dying because of her. No, that wasn't right it was already dead, she was just finishing it off. As they sprinted towards the river the nexus or temple behind them shuttered, sinking down into the ground deeper by the second.

Buildings fell like dominos one falling meant the next one was soon to fall. The entire road seemed to crawl, bursting free from its earthly binds and bending into the sky, floating for a few moments before crashing down like someone was shaking a blanket free of dust.

The chakra led them to a small boat surrounded by calm waters, even as the river was either freezing or evaporating.

"There!" Karin pointed, urging Naruto forward. "Get us in the boat!"

"Right!" He pulled her forward, scooping her up into his arms in the classic princess pose, despite her protests. "Hang on tight!"

"I can jump to ya know?!" She screamed even as they landed on the boat feet first. It shook violently, nearly tipping over at the sudden shift in weight. Karin fell to the side grabbing onto it for dear life. "Now what?"

There had to be something else. There were no sails, no paddles, no nothing. Just a small boat. Against a raging river of ice and fire.

The chakra swirled around them gathering, it was calm, controlled, deliberate.

All Hail, Karin Uzumaki, last queen of the Uzumaki. A thousand voices droned as one being. For she has set us free.

Karin could do nothing but scream as the water around the boat shifted creating a wave beneath them. "Wait, hold on a second!"

The voices did not listen. The wave moved, sliding across the land and bathing them in steam as they joined the main river, pushing them forward out towards the ocean and away from the falling city.

"What the hell is happening?!" Naruto, shouted, holding on for dear life. He only had one hand on the boat, his knuckles were turning white. "I don't think I can hold on much longer!"

Karin was not faring much better.

Naruto slipped. She let go for just a second, she couldn't lose Naruto. They were going to get through this together. A chakra chain stuck out from her hand wrapped tightly around the wooden bench, while her own hand gripped Naruto tightly.

In the distance, she watched as the last bit of Uzushiogakure fell below the ground.

She just hoped the voices didn't send her into the open sea.

AN: Merry Christmas! Anyways this chapter was going to be a bunch of different things. First I was going to have Chtulu type deal where the seal was keeping something contained, and that was what caused the Uzumaki to die out, in this version of the story Naruto and Karin had to reapply the seal.

The next idea was for zombies... which I scrapped for various reasons.

But in the end I decided that this was the best way to do it. I'm not going to say what happened exactly, but the hints are there if you read it.

Anyways! See you next time for more of Naruto and Karin's excellent field trip! (though, the field trip is coming to an end)


	9. Chapter 9

"We are never getting on another boat again!" Karin screamed pulling her head out of the soft sand that covered much of the shore they landed on. A line of tall thin trees melded with the sand so that the border between forest and beach was indistinguishable. The mist was thick enough to be noticeable, but light enough that they could still feel the warmth of the sun basking down on their backs.

Naruto sat up next to her, staring up at the sky wide-eyed. "Sounds good to me, but what if we're on an island."

"We swim, water walk, learn to talk, to fish or make a bridge." Naruto had a lot of chakra, he could probably walk across the ocean, if he didn't have horrible chakra control that is. He should learn an earth jutsu, one called make Karin a bridge. "Just no more boats."

The vessel that they had taken, was now beached with a splintered hull and most of it actually still at sea, given how the aged vessel began to decay on the last leg of the journey.

Karin closed her eyes, to her relief there were people, a lot of people, all milling about in a city or port nearby. Not one of them felt very strong, at least not by ninja standards. But that was probably a good thing. "Come on let's go get food."

"Huh? Where are we going?" Naruto asked scrambling after her before he fell in stride beside her. "And do you want me to take your hand?"

"I want you to carry me, feed me, give me glasses, a warm bed, a warm bath, a working toilet, I just want to be done wandering around without a home!" At this point, her old village might even be a welcomed sight. No, she wasn't that desperate. She grabbed Naruto's hand and squeezed tight. "But I guess you making sure I don't trip will do for now."

"Just point me in the right direction!" Naruto shouted cheerfully. His stomach gave a growl that lasted far longer than it should have. "And please tell me we're close? I'm so hungry."

"Just keep walking along the beach, we should end up there soon enough." Karin gestured in the vague direction of the town. This was getting old. All her and Naruto were doing was finding a town and getting lost, kicked out, followed by wandering through the wilderness. When on earth was it going to end? How much longer until she got a home, a place where she could stay and not have to worry about things like where her next meal was, or if she'd have to sleep in the rain again.

She really didn't want a lot.

"So Queen of the Uzumaki?" Naruto asked his gait somewhere between a jog and a stroll. His rough hand was wrapped tightly around her own.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Karin glared in his vague direction. Why can't she have her glasses back already? She only saw Naruto's slightly ugly mug for like three days and that was far too little time to figure out if he really was actually maybe sort of cute.

"The ghosts, that necklace, the whole Last Queen of The Uzumaki thing? Oh and that note from that Kushina lady." Naruto turned sharply, avoiding a large log seemed a bit out of place along the beach's soft sand.

"Woo," Karin flicked the necklace that hung on her chest, the palm-sized stone shone with every step. "I'm queen of a pile of rocks in the middle of the ocean and a bunch of dead dudes, such an honor."

"You get sassy when you're hungry."

"I'd say you're stupid when you're hungry but that's a twenty-four hour thing with you." Karin rolled her eyes, and let out a sigh. "I'm just going to sell this necklace and see if I get at least buy us lunch with the damn thing."

"But it's-"

"It's mine, and I'm going to sell it for ramen money, if you have a problem with that then I'll just eat your half." She could practically taste it, a nice big bowl of ramen filled to the brim with every topping on the menu complete with extra everything. "If this necklace buys me ramen then it's the first good thing me being an Uzumaki has done for me."

XXXX

"The Great Naruto Bridge."

Naruto examined the plaque on the large bridge that was directly connected to the main street of the village, pumping in fresh produce and trade. "To honor Team Seven of Konoha that saved our village."

It still smelled like any port city; stained with rotten fish guts.

"So you were named after a bridge?" Karin smacked her lips, hands clutched over her stomach so that she wouldn't double over in hunger… or eat Naruto for wanting to read the stupid plaque on the stupid bridge.

"Hey!" Naruto pouted walking back over towards her, "what if the bridge is named after me? Did you ever think about that?"

"Who would name a bridge after you?" She held out her hand, waiting for Naruto to grab it again.

Naruto pouted and turned with a sharp huff. "Yea well."

"Woah! Naruto!" A short boy with a hat on came running up to them. Holy crap he really did have a bridge named after him. "It's been a long time! Oh hey is this your girlfriend?"

A clue! Finally a clue on as to who the hell Naruto is! And now she was back on the path of finally having a home! After all, Naruto had a bridge named after him! That meant he was important and had a hero! Oh, wait didn't that also mean he was from Konoha? That was both great and horrible. "Wait you know Naruto?"

"Well yea, he saved our village when he beat Gato!" The boy spun flailing his arms. "I'm Inari by the way, and who are you?"

"I'm Karin, I've been traveling with Naruto for a while." Karin smiled, it just had to be a kid, she hated kids. They were rude, snobbish and couldn't pay attention worth a damn. At least this one seemed slightly mature.

"Hey, Inari," Naruto coughed, "Umm, so I kind of lost my memories, and stuff, do you think you can tell me where I'm from?"

"Really?" Inari gasped, "Wait I know, come to the house! My mom and grandpa will be happy to see you and we might even be able to help you get your memories back! Oh, and it's almost dinner time anyway! I'm sure my mom made enough for at least two more people, at least if you don't get in another food eating contest with Sasuke."

He grabbed Naruto's spare hand forming a three-person train, steamrolling them out of the village. "A lot's happened around here ya know, my grandpa says that the village is really coming around and that soon we'll be back to the glory days! We kept trying to go see you guys but stuff keeps happening. He's already built three houses!"

"Wait, can you tell me about me?" Naruto asked, a smile on his face. He squeezed her hand tighter. "I mean I still don't know who I am or where I'm from."

"Oh well that's easy, you and your team came from Konoha to protect my grandpa while he built the bridge!" The new buildings near the bridge began to fade, as the older buildings of the tower began to appear, little more than shacks with a fresh coat of paint.

Naruto looked so happy to finally learn about who he is. "Wait who was one, my team?"

"No way you really did forget everything!" Inari took a sharp turn down a dirt path. "Well, lets see there. There was your Sensei, he's Kakashi he looked really strong but was also really lazy he spent most of his time laying in our bed and limping around, then there was Sasuke you guys didn't get along and he was a lot cooler than you. Then there was the girl Sakura! I think you had a crush on her or something."

Wait Naruto was teammates with Sasuke? That same Sasuke that saved her from that bear? That was… good right? Wait, where was the heart throbbing that normally came when she thought about that moment. "Did Sasuke have dark hair and kind of pretty looking?"

"Yea, he had dark hair, and Sakura liked him a lot, my mom kept saying it was a hopeless love triangle and that she felt sorry for all three of you."

Inari's house was built away from the village, though it's slow growth could be seen in the distance, a lone dock jutted out into the calm waters of a bay barely big enough for a dingy. It seemed to be the quiet country home built as a labor of love.

Or at least it would have been had it not been for the howling laughter of two old geezers that sounded like pigs fighting over table scraps.

"Oh geeze," Inari dropped Naruto's hand and scratched the back of his head. "It sounds like Gramps has a friend over… and that they're drinking. Let me go check and make sure it's safe to go inside."

"Oh Tazuna," A gruff voice echoed from inside the house like the roar of an old lion that had far too much pride in itself. "I must say you really do have some great beer out here on the island, even the babes here are top notch."

"Hey now," Tazuna grumbled like a sleeping bear. "I might respect yer work Jiraiya, but keep your eyes off my daughter."

"They sound really drunk," Karin mumbled taking a step closer to Naruto.

"Karin?" he asked turning towards her. She could feel the concern in his voice as she tried to hide from people that couldn't see her.

Damn this blonde idiot and her big mouth. "I don't have a good history with drunk men, especially older ones."

"Don't worry," Inari spoke up, "My gramps just likes to drink, he doesn't grab people or hit people. Well, whatever might as well just dive on in."

Karin followed closely behind Naruto on their approach towards the building. She hated the smell of beer. It only made angry men angrier. Such a vial liquid that brought demons to life.

"Say," Tazune grumbled, "Shouldn't you get back to look'n for that brat of yers? If he was around these parts he would have shown up already."

"Yea," Jiraiya roared into a might belch that shook the house. "I suppose I should, though honestly I've kind of ran out of leads, so I'm just buying time before I go back and get my ass handed to me!"

"Woman troubles?"

"Everyday of my life!"

The bear and the lion roared with laughter making the earth shake.

Inari gave them one last smile before he swung open the door. "Hey, grandpa look who I found!"

The room was plain, with several empty bottles of sake littering the tabletop serving as the main decoration, the scent of alcohol mingled with the mouth-watering scent of a freshly cooked stew. Around the table sat an old grizzly man with tan skin and a balding head of white hair.

Across from him sat a large man with long white hair that coiled around his waist it was so long, It was wild and spiky even as it was contained in a ponytail. He had on a red and green outfit with a head plate that said oil.

The room grew silent as all eyes flew to Naruto.

Tazuna smiled, "Well if it isn't-"

"I live another day!" Jiraiya shouted spinning up to greet them before he fell on the ground with a giant thud. He laughed holding up a flask of booze as he stared at Naruto with a giant smile on his face. "I found him!"

"You are in so much trouble brat!" Jiraiya sat up suddenly, "Seriously Tsunade's been worried sick she told me that if I came back without you she'd bury me six feet under the tallest mountain."

Naruto knew this man? He gave her the creeps! Something about this man was seriously off, as though her female instincts were screaming at her to stay away from him. But he was looking for Naruto right. Wait, was this guy his grandpa or something?

"What the hell were you thinking? I get you're depressed about losing your friend like that, but really, that's no excuse to run away from the village." Jiraiya's eyes moved towards Karin, he blinked twice and then grew a lecherous smile. "Oh, so that's it you went and got yourself a little girlfriend? Well that's a pretty good excuse for me but Tsunade might beat both our asses in."

"Umm," Naruto mumbled stepping between Karin and Jiraiya. "Are you my grandpa?"

Jiraiya looked up his lecherous grin gone, replaced with one of drunken confusion. "Ehh?"

 **AN: So uhh, a lot of you didn't like the last chapter, mostly because Karin was made queen instead of Naruto, and because it was a bit of a weird chapter. Anyways, I admit that I handled that situation wrong. The whole Uzu-storyline was kind of a flop if I'm honest, I had a lot of plans for it, reviving the city, unsealing the clan, a bunch of other stuff, but I decided that it was best not to do any of that stuff. This story is all about Karin finding a home I guess. And none of those options felt right.**

 **But anyways, to late to take it back now. Just thought I'd try to explain myself a bit, as for why Naruto was rejected well... that gets kind of elaborated next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, his face a mask of drunken confusion. He let out a small burp that sounded like a dying bird. With a groan that knocked him backward, Jiraiya took another drink from his flask. "Girl, please tell me that he's just messing with me because he doesn't want to go back to Konoha because he's fallen madly in love with you."

"Hey wait! You know who I am you're looking for me, right? Can't you tell me anything?" He sounded afraid and fearful, the earlier excitement he had when talking to Inari was gone.

"Fuck," Jiraiya groaned sitting up. "Hey to bother you more Tazuna, but do you think we could stay for dinner? I have a feeling it's going to be a lot of storytelling going on."

"By all means, the more the merrier, just watch the language around the kid will ya Tsumi's a bit sensitive about that." Tazuna smiled holding up his bear towards Naruto. "Don't worry brat, we'll set ya straight, by the way, who's your girlfriend?"

"I'm Karin," Naruto guided her down to sit beside him at the small table, he tried to let go of her hand. But, part of her refused to let go. She squeezed his hand hard under the table feeling the texture of the top of his hand with her thumb. He needed to know that she was there for him. And that she needed him, no matter who he was. "So, what can you tell us about Naruto's past?"

"Blah," Jiraiya stuck his tongue out at a new bottle of beer before he took another drink of it. "No way, I'm not going to go off spewing the brats whole life story until after you two tell me why the hell you two had me travel halfway across the goddamn continent looking for you!"

Drunk, mad, an old, such a wonderful combination, why on earth did this drunkard of all people have to know Naruto? Karin sighed, she really hoped that Naruto wasn't actually related to this bastard. "Basically, I found Naruto half drowned in a river - lost my glasses saving him - we went looking for a village or something, found a hut, crazy old lady that lived there used to be a gang leader, old gang attacked, one of them recognized Naruto from here, so we decided to come here, got on a boat, it broke, we ended up stranded near the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools, I became the queen of the Uzumaki and I think the Island sunk or something."

She took a breath and groaned. "Then we ended up here. And I still don't have my glasses!"

"What she said," Naruto pointed towards her.

Silence followed afterward only interrupted by the sound of beer guzzling. Then Jiraiya roared in laughter. "I thought that necklace was familiar! Man, that brings back memories!"

"You were there? Do you know someone called Kushina Uzumaki? She owes me a scroll!" Karin barked glaring at the man, it was like this man was trying his hardest to make her dislike him.

"Yep, I was there with her, she had me digging a tunnel underneath that damn dome to get that scroll. The throne kept rejecting her even though she was an Uzumaki! Boy was she mad, said stealing the scroll was her birthright and it wasn't like a bunch of old ghosts could stop her."

Yep, Karin hated this guy.

"Wait wait, tell me did the brat get zapped by the throne too?" Jiraiya gave them a toothy grin.

"Hey, that thing freak'n hurt!"

"Yea, but why does that matter? It's not like Naruto is an Uzumaki, of course, the throne would zap him." Or at least that's what she thought, it could just be that she was female and the throne was inhabited by a sexist old man or something.

Jiraiya roared with laughter once again. "Ha, He's an Uzumaki alright!"

"Wait really?" Both Naruto and her shouted, slapping their hands on the table.

Wait, why did that even matter? It didn't make him less Naruto. "Besides, why didn't the throne thing work for Naruto?"

"Pfft," Jiraiya snorted. "Who knows, might be because he's a mutt, or has none of the Uzumaki traits. I couldn't tell ya."

"I can't believe I'm an Uzumaki!" Naruto cheered, "Oh hey wait? What about my parents? Are they in Konoha? I can't wait to introduce Karin to them. I-"

"You don't have parents." In a heartbeat Jiraiya became sober, and all joy died in his eyes. There was no spark of amusement, no joy, just the sad simple truth. "They died the night of the Kyuubi attack."

"Oh, well do you know who they are then? I feel like." Naruto tapped on his chest right above the heart. Whatever joy had been in the room vanished, leaving nothing to replace it, just an empty hole. "I feel like I should at least know their names."

"Can't say," Jiraiya scratched the back of his head. "I only really got to know you until six months ago when I made you my apprentice."

"Wait, you're my teacher? Are you some kind of super awesome ninja or something?" Great, that meant Naruto was going to be spending more time around this drunk old man.

"Of course I am!" Jiraiya slapped his own hand on the table, causing it to rattle. "From the east to the west, north to the south, even the spirits know this mighty sanin's name! Jiraiya the toad sage!"

Sanin, sanin… wait… Jiraiya? Sanin? That… he… that… "You're one of the legendary three ninja from Konoha?"

"Ahh," Jiraiya smiled drawing a finger along his chin, "I see that you've heard of me."

This… This…. This was amazing! Naruto - her thick-skulled idiot - was actually an apprentice to one of the most legendary Ninja this side of the Mogami! That meant he was practically famous! And probably rich, or on his way to becoming a powerful and important ninja! Jackpot!

She was going to get that home in no time flat!

"So, can you tell me what you know about me then?" Naruto asked, his tone still lacked that sense of joy.

And that emptiness sucked away her own joy. It was one thing to know that he didn't have parents, but to find out that he was like her, an orphan with no family had to be worse right? To hope that he might have something, only to have it viciously torn from him. She leaned in next to him so that their shoulders were touching. She tried to say words, but they failed her then, but what could she say that she hadn't already said?

Jiraiya leaned back and let out a grunt. "I could, or you could wait until we get you back to Konoha where Tsunade can fix you up. She can probably fix your memory loss, especially if it's because of some kind of a physical trauma like hitting your head or drowning, which from your story sound very probably."

"I'd rather you just tell me if you could," Naruto placed his hands and forehead on the ground, bowing to Jiraiya with as much respect as he could muster. "Master."

Jiraiya beamed, lips curled into a smile, nostrils flaring, he was enjoying this far more than he should. "Well if you insist, I guess I can tell you what I know."

XXXX

Karin flopped down onto the bed it felt like forever since she had a warm safe bed that wasn't moving, and a belly full of delicious food. Something she hoped to be making a habit of once they got to Konoha. Naruto had his own apartment, that meant that they had their own apartment, which meant so many wonderful things. Privacy, a kitchen, baths, and a nice cozy bed.

She couldn't wait to get back to Konoha.

Just the thought of having a new home, a new safe home with a roof that didn't leak was enough to make her squeal and kick her legs in excitement.

Best of all the Hokage - legendary healer and strongest woman in the world - was apparently fond of Naruto so she could probably convince him to convince her to let her stay even if they found out that she was technically a missing-nin at this point.

A knock sounded on her door. "Karin?" It was Naruto.

"Whats up?" She didn't dare to get up, not want to disturb the elusive comfort she was feeling.

Naruto opened the door, blanket, pillow, and matt in his hands. "Jiraiya snores. loud. do you mind if I sleep in here with you?"

"Sure, not like we don't normally spend the night next to each other." Karin gestured towards the empty space next to her.

Naruto tossed down his bed for the night, looking extra tired. "Thanks, Karin."

"You should call me your highness from now on," Karin turned to Naruto, who flopped down beside her.

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"Cause you're an Uzumaki and I'm the Queen of the Uzumaki." She rested her head on her chin, staring at her travel companion, he was by far the best thing she'd ever pulled out of a river. "Don't worry, as my lone subject I promise to treat you well but a bit of respect and dignity."

Naruto snorted, "Pass."

Karin smiled, burying her face in the soft pillow that Inari's family had provided them. She should be happy, Naruto should be happy, but he wasn't. "Hey, are you okay? You're kind of down or something."

"Yea I'm fine," He didn't sound fine.

She rolled her eyes. "You don't sound fine."

"It's nothing really."

Karin scrambled up to her knees, gripping her pillow tightly she stared at the vague form that was her best friend. Then she rained down righteous pillowy fury upon him, once twice, three times.

"Ow hey! Dammit, is there bricks in that thing?" Naruto flailed under her assault.

For her finishing move, she pushed the pillow onto his chest and landed on top of him, keeping him pinned against the ground. She flicked his nose. "Tell me Naruto."

He struggled and probably could have broken free if he really wanted to - she wasn't that strong - but, even if he did escape she would get the answer from him. They had been through too much to keep secrets from each other. "Tell me."

Naruto stopped and sighed, he refused to look her in the eyes. "I'm just worried okay?"

"About what?" she relaxed resting her head on her pillow, arms pressed forward so that her hands rested on either side of Naruto's head.

"About me, what if I get my memories back and I turn into somebody else?" Their eyes met for just a moment.

Karin felt her smile growing. "That's what you're worried about? Honestly, you heard what Inari and Jiraiya said, you're an idiot now, you were an idiot then and you're going to be an idiot after you get your memories back."

"What about you?" He held her gaze longer this time. "What happens now? I'm going back to Konoha and you don't have a home anymore, and I don't want to just leave you." He sighed, head flopping to the side. "You're too important to me."

Her smile grew wide and she pressed down onto him harder knocking the air out of him with an oof. "If you think it's that easy to get rid of me Naruto you're sadly mistaken, face it you're stuck with me from now on."

"Thanks, Karin." He took in a deep breath and smiled, it felt good knowing that she could dispel his fears so easily. He swallowed and the smile vanished, "So umm when we get back to Konoha, do you think you'd be okay with living with me?"

Karin blinked, scrunching her face up like she just eaten a sour lemon. That was actually her plan from the get go. "What made you think we weren't? You still owe me a home, I don't mind borrowing yours until you provide me one."

He gave a wheezing laugh that she felt. "Hey, Karin?"

"Yea?"

"Do you think you could get off me?"

She smiled and snuggled into her pillow more. "No way, to comfy."

Naruto groaned in protest.

XXXX

Despite what people said, there was no building up an immunity to a hangover, and there was no magical cure-all otherwise Tsunade would have found it already. But the killer headache that sounded a successful night's drinking did not prevent stiffen Jiraiya's good mood.

No today was a great day. After a month of following Naruto's trail, he had finally found the brat, well… the brat found him, but he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth! But the girl. The girl put an interesting twist on things.

What was her name again? Oh right, Karin! Karin Uzumaki, apparently the queen of the Uzumaki. Poor Kushina must be rolling in her grave. She was close to Naruto, really close, offering him strength when he didn't need it, and relying on him a great deal. Almost like a parasite. Though that was probably a bit harsh considering how by Naruto's own account she saved his life several times.

He could bring her to Konoha no problem, and the girl seemed keen on doing that, her face lighting up whenever the village was mentioned. But dragging her around the world while he trained Naruto to use the Kyuubi's chakra was not something he was to keen on.

"We'll cross that road when we come to it I guess," Jiraiya grumbled scratching the back of his head. "Damn brat is probably going to throw a fit if I try to separate them."

With a yawn that smelled like low tide he paused in front of their room, he should probably leave Tazuna with something considering how hospitable the family was. Maybe a sample chapter of his next book and a bottle of toad brew, yea that sounded fair. With another yawn, he slid the door open. "Alright brats-"

Yep. They were both Uzumaki that was for sure. The two of them had somehow managed to squirm out of their respective beddings and were now sprawled around the room like twin starfishes, with Karin's foot pressing into Naruto's face. "So much for walking in on them cuddling like two adorable idiots."

 **AN: Not going to lie, that scene was super fluffy and I love it. Anyways, hope you all enjoy I'm going to go work on... I don't know.**


	11. Chapter 11

The girl was a manipulative, bossy, cruel, cunning, bitch.

It was like somebody took the worse traits of Tsunade and cranked the Uzumaki to eleven, pasty skin, short temper, red hair that seemed to have a vendetta against combs and style in general. And yet somehow his idiotic apprentice was heads over heels in love with the girl. It was like watching a girl playing with her new puppy.

Oh sure the girl loved Naruto too, that much was obvious to everybody but them it seemed. Yep, his apprentice was doomed to a life being shackled to one woman that loved him. Honestly, he was a little jealous.

"Hey Girlie," Jiraiya whistled calling her over like a dog. She glared at him, or at least it looked like she was, it was hard to tell, she kept squinting at everything.

"What do you want. Lord Jiraiya?" Despite the title, the girl had no respect in her voice, as though she was mocking him.

What he really wanted was some god damn respect -which was why he hadn't bothered to correct his students wonderful habit of calling him, Master! He was Jiraiya! Of the Sanin, the only one that wasn't broke or crazy. He was published too, sure his Icha series was the big seller but he had plenty of other books that made his bank account not suck. "What's your intent when we get back to Konoha?"

"Get a pair of glasses, move in with Naruto, steal his bed, eat his food, and find a job or something," Karin said like she was reading a grocery list. The girl was as honest as the sun and as blunt as a barn.

Jiraiya chuckled, Karin was starting to grow on him…. Like a damn parasite. "Well, do you have any skill that could be useful to Konoha? Or would you just be a civilian?"

"I'm not a good fighter," She looked down in shame, adjusting her small pack as they continued down their path towards Konoha. Naruto was needlessly distracted just up ahead, practically bouncing. "But, I have a few other skills that could be useful to Konoha, so I'll figure something out."

"What skills do you have exactly?" He wanted her to have something trainable, something that would keep her in Konoha while he trained Naruto how to control the Kyuubi. Part of it was the danger, but most of it was for his wallet. Feeding an Uzumaki was expensive, feeding two would put a major dent in his bank account. "And for that matter who taught you?"

It was small, just the slightest bit of hesitation in her footstep, the slight furrowing of her brow, and the way her hand drifted towards her arm. All subtle things that could mean a million different things. Painful memories, reluctance, time to find a lie, guilt perhaps all of the above and then some. "Well, I can make this chain appear out of my hand, back to I think, I can't really control it yet, but I'm working on it. Don't know what good it'll do."

To demonstrate her point Karin extended her hand and dropped a small length of chain out of nowhere. Great, she just had to have the Uzumaki Sealing chains. "I see, but that's not much use in a non-combat role."

"I can do other stuff," She pouted. "Like, I can sense chakra from really far away."

"Oh, now that could be very useful, how far away is really far away?" A sensor could support just about any team, and if the girl had even remotely good chakra control a sensor medic could be a potent combination.

She shrugged. "I don't know, five kilometers, maybe more."

Jiraiya snorted, "You don't have to lie to impress me girl, just being a sensor at your age is impressive enough."

"I'm not lying!" She huffed, all of her bravado coming back. "Watch, There's going to be a family coming on the road in five minutes, they're going to have a donkey pulling a cart, two adults, and a baby."

"Now I know you're lying, you didn't even do anything!" This girl had to be the biggest liar on earth. There was no way that she could get the kind of range, or that level of detail, or doing it like it was as easy as breathing. To do all three was just unheard of, and he had known many powerful sensors.

"Don't believe me? Go check yourself."

Damn brat.

"Well is there anything else you can do?" Jiraiya grumbled another reason why this girl was so not coming on the training trip. She was very likely to try to kill him when he was asleep. Besides he didn't train girls! It was just on the list of things that didn't happen. "Like, jutsu, or something you're good at? And who the hell taught you?"

She snorted like an angry pig. "I don't know a lot of Jutsu okay, I learned most of what I do on my own, my mom taught me some stuff but not a lot. I'm not good in a fight."

"You said that already." She was hiding something, or his name wasn't Jiraiya spymaster of Konoha. "Look, I'm trying to help you find a place in Konoha, Tsunade may be willing to take you in because you're the brats girlfriend, but that doesn't mean she'll let you freeload."

"I'm smart." She shrugged like it was an afterthought. "You don't have to help me out I'll figure out something useful I can do for. My. New. Home."

Was this how Tsunade felt about him? To both love and hate somebody so much that he just wanted to punch her half the time? Good lord, she was basically a meaner version of Kushina… without the tomboy part.

"Look," She pointed ahead of them.

Jiraiya had to stop walking. His mouth hung open ever so slightly. The girl was right. A donkey pulling a cart, with a young couple riding it, the woman with a swaddled baby. He snorted. "Dumb luck, do it again and I'll-"

"Naruto has the Kyuubi sealed inside of him doesn't he?" Karin asked her eyes locked on the back of Naruto as he orbited around them like an excited dog on a leash. Again this girl just kept doing her best to surprise him, "Don't try to lie to me, I know what your chakra looks like when you're lying."

"You're joking?" What the hell was this girl? That was it, he must have pissed off some Uzumaki witch that cursed him to have terrible luck with Uzumaki's as they kept being a pain in the necks when he was trying to train a stupid blond.

"Everything I've told you has been true," She had such a smug smile on her face that it took all his will not to smack it off of her. "Lord Jiraiya, but I'll take your silence as a yes."

"Yea, fine the brats has the Kyuubi sealed inside of him." Jiraiya grumbled in a hushed tone, "But can you keep it down, I'd rather let him be worry free for a little while longer, and how did you find out?"

"I said I can sense Chakra. That includes the darkness inside of Naruto's light." Karin didn't bother to keep her volume under control. "I didn't know what it was until you told us about Naruto last night, then I started to get some clues. I have another question."

"I'm almost afraid to ask." If this kept up, Konoha would have a new spymaster. "But what is it?"

"I noticed that when we mentioned Kushina, your chakra flared and that whenever we spoke about her you asked Naruto something, similar, and whenever we brought up Naruto's parents your chakra flared the same way."

Yep no, he was retiring.

"So is Kushina naruto's mother?"

"Why do you ask things you already know the answer to?" Jiraiya whined, both for himself and the future. If Naruto really did manage to become the Hokage, then Karin would be the wife of the Hokage and the world would tremble.

She smiled with a gleeful madness. "I like it when people say I'm right."

"But, why hide it?" Karin asked.

Jiraiya sighed, running a hand through his long hair. It was a question he asked himself every day. Naruto's enemies already knew who he was, Minato's enemies didn't care anymore hell most of them were dead. "I honestly don't know anymore."

Before he could explain himself Karin nodded cupping her mouth with both hands. "Uhuh, hey blondie! That Kushina lady is your mother!"

"What really? Awesome!" Naruto shouted running over to them. His smile seemed all the brighter. "Hey! wait, you called my mom a bitch!"

"Yea and I called you an idiot, Idiot!"

Yea… he was going to let Tsunade deal with this girl. He was done.

XXXX

Konoha shined. Komain city which was larger and more heavily populated was nothing but a polished rock compared to The Village Hidden in the Leaves that shined like a thousand glittering stars. The chakra signatures in the city were strong, powerful, proud, each one unique in some wonderful way.

Just as with her first visit, Karin was left speechless as she felt Konoha, even the average non-ninja had more chakra than others. To say nothing of their ninja. At a glance, she counted a hundred chakra signatures stronger than the Head Ninja of her old home, and many of them eclipsed him.

But strength and volume weren't all that existed in Konoha. There was a warmth, a finesse, that existed in every single person. It was that undeniable fire that Konoha ninja seemed to have. And Naruto was no exception if anything he was the definition of this warmth.

Jiraiya had it too, though his was less a the roaring bonfire that Naruto had and more the campfire trying to outlast the storm.

The gates came into view, a flat dull blob that marked just one more barrier between her and her new home. One where she wouldn't be fretting when her next meal was, rather where she wanted to eat. Where she would have a roof, a bed, a bath. She found herself smiling, as she felt Naruto's warmth pass next to her, their hands touching for the time between heartbeats. And she would have people that cared about her here.

"Are you nervous?" She asked, intentionally stepping towards him so that their shoulders touched.

Naruto bounced away with a laugh. "No, I think… I think I'm just really excited. My hearts racing and my palms are really sweaty!"

"You dork, I don't need to know when your palms are sweaty!" Karin stuck her tongue out in disgust. "But do you remember anything?"

"Ehh, not really but this place feels really familiar."

Karin nodded, staring at the gate ahead of them as it slowly began to grow taller and taller her. Why weren't they running at it, screaming like maniacs? Wait, running at a guarded gate of a ninja village screaming like a manic was probably not good for her health. "I'm really excited too."

Finally their long journey was over, finally she could have some peace and quiet, finally, she could read a book, sample perfumes, eat out, and just do normal things with extraordinary people.

"Naruto!" A girly voice screamed from ahead, and a small and damaged, but strong chakra signature charged at them. It was a girl with pink hair, running at Naruto.

Naruto stood frozen a hand going to his head. "Sakura?"

Oh, so he'd remember her, the girl Inari said that he had a crush on and his teammate. Just great! Wait, this was a good thing, Naruto was regaining his memories, she should be happy for him.

The girl crashed into Naruto pulling him into a hug. "You idiot! Do you have any idea how worried we were about you? Everybody's been searching for you since you disappeared, I don't think Kakashi-sensei has slept!"

Karin felt like vomiting, her body lurched forward and nearly gave a dry heave.

"Oh umm, sorry Sakura, it's just I've kind of lost my memories, so I didn't really know I lived here and stuff." Naruto to his credit stood there like an awkward fish completely unsure of what to do.

Karin did not like Sakura, there was just something about the girl that pissed her off. But honestly, she had no idea what it was.

"Wait you lost your memories? We thought Orochimaru captured you or something, or worse." Sakura took a step back from Naruto her hands falling to the side, "I'm just happy you're alive, and back."

Disgusting pink haired whore!

Still, what could she say, this was someone from Naruto's past, a close friend of his, someone that he had a crush on, that he was heads over heels for. Not like she stood a chance against her. Not that she wanted to! She was not after Naruto's heart! Just his house! And his friendship and...

Naruto took her hand pulling her towards him. "This is Karin! She's the one that pulled me out of the river!"

"Hey wait!" Karin stumbled, tripping over her own two feet and landing smack into Naruto's chest. "Dammit you idiot, don't pull on me like that."

"Aww, I'm sorry Karin, I just wanted you to meet Sakura!" Naruto didn't have to sound so happy about it. And why the hell were they still holding hands? Wait, she was the one not letting his hand go. She really should… but. "Anyways, Karin this is Sakura, I… only really know her name right now!"

"You really are an idiot Naruto," Sakura groaned, but she could hear the smile in her voice. Before she bowed at the waist. "Thank you for saving Naruto, I know how big of a pain he can be but thanks for saving him."

"I… um, yea no problem," Karin mumbled, was this respect? Was this what being respected felt like?"

The earth trembled slightly, like a tree falling far off in the distance. And a large chakra signature was charging right at them. It was kind, motherly, healing chakra, with an aura of authority. But most of all it was ablaze with fury.

"Alright, brats, we better get going before Tsunade gets mad at me." Jiraiya grumbled, trying to urge the brats along.

Tsunade was the Hokage, the female Hokage of Konoha. And apparently was fond of Naruto. That explained the chakra signature.

Karin coughed and pointed in the air just above the gate. "I think it's too late for that."

Jiraiya had enough time to look afraid before a blonde woman masked in chakra slammed into him, creating a crater where he once stood. Like a great hulking beast, she pulled Jiraiya out of the ground. "Jiraiya! You're late!"

"Why are you hurting me?" Jiraiya whined, "I found the brat!"

"Ehh?" Tsunade paused, head turning towards the three of them, even as Sakura took a safe step away. The earth buckled as the Hokage walked towards them, her knuckles popped with thunder. "Brat do you have any idea how worried I was? You have two seconds to tell me why the hell you didn't come back!"

"He lost his memories!" Karin blurted out. Seriously! How many ridiculously strong ninja did Naruto know? More importantly, why was she standing between Tsunade and Naruto? Wait, her feet brought her here. And why was she glaring in the vague direction of fucking Hokage?

She did not have a death wish.

"He did?" Tsunade pried Naruto from her and began to inspect his head like it was a melon at the market. "Hmm, I should be able to fix this, but who the hell are you?"

"I'm Karin," She chirped, bouncing ever so slightly. "Karin Uzumaki, I saved Naruto."

Tsunade nodded, eyes fixed on the necklace Karin wore around her neck.

XXXX

Karin sighed, pressing her knees up to her chest. Tsunade had rushed them (rather Naruto) straight to the hospital and immediately began the operation. Soon, the Naruto that he was before he knew her would be back. But what about the Naruto she knew now? What would happen to him? Would he still be there? Would he still like her? Would she even still like him?

Wait where the hell did that come from?

"You shouldn't be so worried," Sakura said next to her. Despite the empty row of seats across from the operating room, the pink haired girl had chosen to sit right next to her. "Naruto's a tough guy I'm sure he'll survive."

"I'm not worried." About that at any rate, even she knew who Tsunade was, legendary sanin, strongest woman in the world, and the founder of modern medical jutsu. "I'm just anxious is all."

"So I've been meaning to ask you, are you Naruto's girlfriend or something?"

"What, what makes you say that?" Great! Stuttering! Just what she needed right now! "I mean really, everybody keeps saying that, what makes you think that?"

"Well, for one you're almost always touching him, or holding his hand." Sakura smiled rocking forward slightly so that her elbows rested on her knees. "That and the way you look at him… or rather squint at him, unless you're calling him an idiot, you're always smiling at him. And I don't know, you two just kind of look cute together."

Karin snorted, ignoring the fact that her cheeks were burning. "Well sorry to burst yours and everybody's bubble Naruto is not my boyfriend."

She focused back into the room, feeling Naruto's warm chakra, still as bright as ever, even as the darkness of the Kyuubi swirled beneath it.

"But you'd like to be right?" Sakura asked, holding back a laugh. "I can tell, that you really do care about him."

"Just shut up okay," Karin grumbled. "Naruto's just an idiot that I pulled out of a river, that owes me a home and a pair of glasses for saving his life."

Sakura hummed, leaning back in her chair so that her head was touching the wall. "And does that home include Naruto in it?"

"I fucking hate you."

"Aww, but I thought we were going to be friends!"

Karin glared at Sakura as best she could. "What about you? What's Naruto to you?"

That shut the pink-haired bitch up.

Sakura swallowed, her body now rigid as her hand clutched over her heart. "Naruto, well he's… he's my teammate, and well my teammate too, and I just want to see him happy."

"So why don't you date him? He has a crush on you right?"

"It's not like that," Sakura said in the most believable tone ever. "Besides I get the feeling that he likes you a lot."

"Pfft, Yea I'm sure he heads over heels in love with the thin pasty girl that keeps bossing him around." She did not like Naruto, and Naruto did not like her…. Right?

The door slid open, revealing the easily flustered black haired woman that the Hokage had dragged into the room with her. "Naruto's memory has been restored."

Karin rushed past her, her legs moving on their own as her heart raged against her ribs. She knew he was okay, she knew that they knew what they were doing. But still, she needed to see him for herself.

"Hi, Karin!" He beamed at her from his hospital bed. "I got all my memories back! And I can't wait to take you to Ichiraku's! They have the best ramen ever!"

"Good," she smiled walking over to his side, touching his arm. "You're still an idiot."

Tsunade laughed, "I'm starting to like your girlfriend brat."

 **AN: Denial, noun, failure to acknowledge an unacceptable truth or emotion or to admit it into consciousness, used as a defensive mechanism.**

 **fun word right there.**

 **If you want to read a fic of mine that isn't going to be romance focused, give The Sun Always Rises a try!**


	12. Chapter 12

"She's a thirteen year old girl, Jiraiya." Tsunade rubbed her temples as her troublesome teammate followed her into her office. She needed a drink. Today was great but she had to make sure that everything stayed great. First she had to restore the Brats memories, then she had to call off about a dozen searches. And now she had to find out what to do with the stray Naruto picked up. "How scary can she be?"

"I'm not saying she's scary, I'm just saying be cautious with her." Jiraiya rested a hand on her desk, fingers crawling towards her own hand in another attempt to to win her over. It was exhausting always having to be on guard around Jiraiya, even if it did make her feel wanted. "She's smart, and clever, and manipulative, and you know what, actually yea she scares me."

Tsunade rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "And what makes you say that?"

"Well, she can tell if you're lying based on your chakra, and she can make leaps in logic that are rather accurate, she found out that Kushina was Naruto's mom based off of what my chakra did when I talked about her." Jiraiya spun around to face her, both hands were on her desk. "She's like an evil manipulative version of Minato mixed with a lie detector."

"How good is her ability to sense chakra?" Tsunade asked, she might be a bit biased, but any girl that can make Jiraiya be on edge was a win in her book.

Jiraiya sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Unbelievable, according to her, she can sense individual chakra miles away, they all have unique feelings to her so she can easily pinpoint people she's met before, and she can get a general feel of them from their chakra. Not to mention she can tell if they're lying or not. But she can also sense the Kyuubi inside of Naruto's seal."

"Impressive, and she wants to join the village?" Tsunade replied smiling to herself, even if Karin wasn't a fighter she had a unique talent set that was a great boon. She knew all too well how powerful a support role could be.

"I think she wants to stay with Naruto," Jiraiya laughed. "Those two imprinted on each other something fierce. So as long as Naruto wants to live in Konoha, I think Karin will to."

"And how does that affect your trip? We can't have him trying to master the Kyuubi's chakra so close to the village." Tsunade folded her arms and sighed. "You said it yourself the people are finally starting to respect him even if just ever so slightly, if something were to happen."

"I know, I know." She could feel the regret in his voice. He didn't want to leave either, even if it was his M.O. "And I'm not comfortable taking the girl with me, she'd be both a burden and she'd be wasted on me. That and I don't teach girls."

"How progressive of you Jiraiya."

"Would you trust me with a girl?"

"Honestly? Yea." Tsunade smiled up at him, watching Jiraiya's mouth fall open. "You're a great teacher Jiraiya, and you might be the most perverted man on the planet, but I've never seen you flirt with anybody that looked underage."

"But," she continued. "I do understand your point, her skill set would be wasted on you."

"So what are you going to do with her?" Jiraiya asked, a smile worming its way onto his face.

Tsunade shrugged, "I don't know, I'll make up my mind after I talk to her."

XXXX

Karin stared at the door to the Hokage's office. It was less grand than she thought it would have been. The Head Jounin of the Grass had a bigger office, his had double doors. But still this was the Hokage's office as in the leader of one of the strongest villages, and the strongest women in the world by no small margin.

And here she was some weak girl that couldn't fight about to enter the lions den. No, she had nothing to worry about, the Hokage loved Naruto… like an annoying little brother or something, their relationship was weird. But the Hokage wasn't going to hurt her.

If she wanted to do that then why did she send her assistant to get her a pair of glasses.

She smiled as she felt the still cold black frames on her nose, they were stylish, comfortable, and the best glasses she had ever owned. It was like she was seeing the world for the first time. For the real first time, everything was so crisp and clear. Was this how people normally saw? It was amazing!

But why wasn't Naruto here? Oh right, he was still strapped to the hospital bed with that Sakura girl refusing to let him move a muscle for at least a few more hours just to make sure there's no unusual side effects. And all of his friends had come to. She didn't fit in with them.

She was just an outsider again. Was coming here a mistake? This was supposed to be her new home. But once again she felt so much like an outsider. If only they could have stayed on that island, with the boat, and the fire and that beautiful sunset. Wait, no, she was just being stupid.

Other people wanted to spend time with Naruto so she'd just have to share him.

"Karin?" Shizune's voice - the lady that brought her the glasses - caused her to snap out of her thoughts. She didn't even hear the woman, or the pig, somehow managing to carry a tray of tea and a stack of paperwork all at once. "Why are you standing there? Is Lady Tsunade asleep at her desk again?"

"No," Karin shook her head and sighed. "I was just lost in thought."

Shizune laughed. "Oh, well here hold the Tea and I'll let us in."

Before Karin could decline or otherwise the woman forced the tea tray upon her. It was heavy, and wobbled with every movement. How did this lady climb three flights of stairs with this and hold all those papers?

"Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked opening the door while giving Karin a small knowing wink. This woman was far too kind and was making all the wrong assumptions. Still, she was nice. "I brought Karin, Tea, and the mission reports."

The blond woman behind the desk groaned like a child. "Tea? I thought I asked for some booze."

Karin bumbled alongside Shizune, doing her best not to trip and spill tea everywhere. The office smelled like booze covered with a strong chocolate scent. It wasn't fooling anybody. What was with Naruto? He seemed to have the natural ability to make old drunk people care about him. First Tazuna and Jiraiya, now the Hokage.

"You still have a few hours before you're off the clock." Shizune chidded reaching around the desk. She pulled out an empty bottle of sake. "Besides I think you've had enough."

Tsunade huffed folding her arms and pouting like a five year old. "Hey, I couldn't drink for a month because I was too worried about Naruto! I deserve a reward!"

"You drank more then!"

More pouting, the Hokage was pouting! The latent fear that had been gnawing at the back of her mind vanished, and Karin couldn't help but laugh. "You remind me a lot of Naruto."

It was like she had disturbed some sacred ritualistic banter. The mood in the room went from happy and cheerful to dreadfully series and silence flooded in so that she could hear a pin drop. Tsunade's chakra turned cold and guarded, like any shrewd businessman, even Shizune's bright aura dropped as though responding to her master's unseen command.

"Right then," Tsunade gestured towards the center of the room with one hand while the other gathered a separate pile of paperwork. Karin took the hint and stood in the middle of the room feeling the pressure of what was the beating heart of Konoha. "Give these to the messengers, I want all teams to be aware that the search is off, Naruto's home, and to thank Suna for their assistance as well."

Suna? How many important people cared about Naruto to get two villages searching for him?

"Right away My Lady." Shizune bowed scurrying out the door, the pig hot on her heels.

The air grew cold and stiff, her feet were screaming at her and her legs were already falling asleep like a thousand needles prickling her skin. The Hokage hadn't even glanced at her yet. She knew why the woman sent Shizune away. She made her comfortable - both of them - and for this conversation the Hokage did not want her comfortable.

Everything felt stiff and rigid, and all though the chakra of the outside world buzzed about within the Hokage's office not a soul moved. Only the ticking of the clock and the steam wafting from the tea gave credit to the passage of time.

Tsunade poured herself a cup of tea, taking a small sip of it before her eyes snapped towards Karin. It was a jolt that nearly made her scream. She should not be here. Never in a thousand years should she be here. She had nothing. No protection aside from some dumb blond that wasn't anywhere near her! She could have waited for Naruto to recover, then have this conversation with him there.

He was her only shield.

"So," Tsunade purred like a lion cornering a helpless mouse. Death was inevitable, it just mattered how much the lion wanted to play with her. "Your name is Karin Uzumaki correct?"

She knew that, she even told her as much. Hell this woman said she was Naruto's girlfriend. Karin nodded, letting none of her fear show. Just one more hurdle. "That's right I'm Karin Uzumaki." She bit her lip she needed something more, her hand fell to that green stone that sat on her chest, feeling its smooth spiral. "And I'm Queen of the Uzumaki."

Tsunade raised any eyebrow and smirked. "Congrats you're the queen of a pile of rubble and a bunch of dead folk." The teacup rested on the table with a loud knock that sounded more like thunder. "Do you know what that means?"

"I have a pretty necklace?" Karin asked with a shrug. If she could get anything out of this woman, a smile, a laugh, anything but that calculating look that could freeze a fire, then perhaps she could get out of this in one piece.

"True, it's made from the same stuff as my Grandfather's necklace, without any of the fame though." The Hokage's eyes flickered to the picture of the first Hokage, one of the only two that were smiling in their photo. "But it also marks you."

"Marks me?" It was just a stone, a stone that as she claimed didn't have any fame.

"It was explained to me by my grandmother, Mito Uzumaki, that the throne of the Uzumaki would only accept one that had all three of their clan traits. The first being the most common, Chakra chains, something you showed Jiraiya." Tsunade stood, hand tracing the papers on her desk, while the other opened a drawer.

"And the other two?" Karin felt her heart sink. They were going to know. They were going to find out. This was not good. She didn't want to be used her. It wasn't worth the price. If she begged Naruto they could leave. Go to Suna! He had allies there! Or find another abandoned island where they can spend every day staring at the sunset.

"The other you claim to have, I believe that it's called "The Mind's eye". It was apparently incredibly rare, a sensor ability that was rather powerful, but your claims are extraordinary even by its description." Brown eyes narrowed at her.

"I'm not lying." Karin mumbled. No that was weak. She tightened her fists and stood straight, holding the Hokage's gaze with equal parts confidence and pride. "I'm telling the truth, you have a genjutsu cast on you, the seal in your forehead holds a lot of chakra, There are two strong ninja nearby, one is female, the other is a male, his chakra feels artificial and-"

"I wasn't doubting your abilities, you provided more than enough proof when you discovered who Naruto's mother was and sensed the Nine-Tailed Fox even when it was sealed, that's quite impressive." Tsunade closed the distance between them, the older woman wasn't exactly towering but she was as intimidating as any mountain. "The third ability is an odd one, it's the ability to give others your life force via biting."

Stupid stupid stupid. She should have sold this stupid rock when she had the chance. "I don't think I have that ability." She was lying, she was lying to the Hokage.

"Show me your arms." It was a command, spoken with absolute authority.

"I-"

"Show me your arms, girl."

Why was she doing this? This was torture! The woman already knew that she had the ability it was written in the tone of her voice and the way those brown eyes bared down upon her. Slowly, Karin rolled up her sleeve, just enough to show the first of her many bite wounds. "Happy?"

"No." Tsunade grabbed onto her arm and rolled up the sleeve as high as it would go. "You lied to me."

"If you knew you'd just use me."

"Like they did back in the Grass?" Tsunade released her arm and turned back to the desk. Pulling up another piece of paper. "Karin Uzumaki, competed on a team from the Village Hidden in the grass, wore glasses and had red hair. You know that the Grass is an ally of the leaf right?"

They were going to send her back. She felt sick, tears welled in her eyes, and her brave front was crumbling. "Please… don't send me back."

A pair of warm hands clasped onto her shoulders. "Karin, I want you to relax, the Grass hasn't asked for you so we won't send you back."

Karin looked up at Tsunade in a stunned silence. "You're not?"

"You saved Naruto's life, quite a few times apparently, and that damn brat wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I kicked you out of the village." This woman was completely different from the one that had just been grilling her for the past ten minutes. Her chakra changed as well, it was less a stone wall, and more warm and friendly.

"Then why did you do that?"

"I need you to be honest with me, I'm going to be your Hokage. And you lied to Jiraiya where you came from and again just now in regards to your healing ability, and don't worry we're not going to make you use it if you don't want to." Tsunade smiled reaching into her back and pulling out a headband. A leaf headband. "This is yours if you want it, you'll be given the rank of genin."

Karin touched the headband. This was… was she really? "You want me to become a ninja?"

"Relax, I won't make you fight if you don't want to, there are plenty of non-combat rolls you can fill with your abilities, sealing, sensor team, medical ninja, you're a smart girl too I'm sure you'll find some place for you to fit in." Tsunade shrugged, all but shoving the headband into her hands. "It also makes things easier on my end, I can give you the same monthly stipend that all genin receive, and I can easily justify finding out a way to clear those bite marks up for you."

Karin felt her fingers curl around the metal plate, it was cold but slowly warming up. She was a ninja again, but it was different this time. She had a choice. And she had Naruto.

"Allow me to be the first to say this. Welcome home, Karin." Tsunade gave her a tight hug that shoved her face into the Hokage's breasts. "And thanks for bringing the brat back to us. Now go tell him he's free to go, I just wanted to keep him there so we could have a one on one."

XXXX

Tsunade let out a sigh as the girl turned to leave. She liked Karin, she was strong willed and stubborn. And putting on such a tough act was exhausting, but she needed the girl to learn that trust was a mutual thing, who knows what would have happened if they allowed her into the village and some grass shinobi recognized her. Now they could at least be prepared.

"Is that the Fourth Hokage?" Karin asked pointing towards one of the pictures that hung above the door frame.

Tsunade smiled. "Yep, Minato was a good man and died before his time, but you'll have to take a crash course on our history later."

"And he's the one that sealed the Kyuubi into Naruto?"

"Yes…." Tsunade nodded, despite the fact that the Karin was fixated onto the photograph.

"He's Naruto's dad isn't he?"

Damn girl nearly gave her a heart attack! Jiraiya was right! Such a troublesome but useful girl. "Yea, but don't tell Naruto, at least not yet."

"Why?" Karin looked at her through those square glasses of hers. She had the perfect disapproving scowl that could make anybody feel guilty.

"I wasn't the one to start the secret, but I can understand why it was started and why we need to keep it until Naruto is a little bit more mature," Tsunade sighed, leaning onto her desk. "The Kyuubi feeds of off negative emotions, and because of the beast Naruto was looked down upon, in the village. He's had a hard life because of it. With how he is now, telling him that the man that sealed the beast into him was his father wouldn't be a good idea."

"Shouldn't you trust Naruto more?"

"Just wait until his birthday or your anniversary date or something before you tell him, damn brat."

Karin smiled as she left the room. Konoha as going to be a very different place with a girl like her hanging around.

 **AN: Beta'd by xxTerror33xx. Not much of a fluffy chapter but one that was needed to get the story moving forward.**


	13. Chapter 13

When she arrived at the hospital, all of Naruto's friends had dispersed. Leaving only Naruto and that old pervert in the room. Their chakra's were telling, Naruto was telling, and Jiraiya was resolute. The sun was getting low on her fast day in Konoha, and her stomach was empty, Naruto had to know of a good ramen stand around here right?

And then there was her new home, a place where she could spend all day and do nothing, where she wouldn't have to worry about stuff getting stolen, where she could just be happy. And she'd have Naruto there to so that was kind of a bonus or something. For the first time in a long time, things were fantastic, no more traveling wandering around aimlessly.

"Home," She giggled at the sound of the word, feeling it tingle on her lips.

"Hey, Naruto, you're free to go," Karin announced strutting into the hospital room, still warm from having so many people in it. Next to his bed she pushed up on her new glasses adjusting them and showing off her new headband. "Tsunade made me a ninja too."

"Oh," Naruto lagged, like his brain was still short circuiting. His eyes darted towards Jiraiya then back to her and he forced a smile on to his face. "That's great Karin!"

Something was off. Did he want nothing to do with her now that he had his memory back? Or was it something Jiraiya said?

"Well, I best be off," Jiraiya groaned popping several joints with a stretch. He pulled out a stacked wallet and handed her a wad of cash. "You two enjoy a night on the town, my treat." It hurt when he ruffled her hair like he was her grandfather. "Remember Naruto, tomorrow." Jiraiya whistled a tune on his way out the door, sandals clicking loudly on the tiled hallways.

"So," Karin looked towards Naruto, thumbing through the bills as she did so - there was a lot of cash here! "What was that about."

"Oh!" Naruto jumped, his eyes were so distant from the ones she had come to know. "Jiraiya just wants to train me is all."

"Then why the hell are you moping around!" Karin snapped, dragging Naruto off the bed by his shirt. "We're home you idiot, after running around for a month we're finally home so start being happy! So you're going to tell me what the hell is wrong. Right now."

The terrified look on Naruto's face was not something she wanted to see often, but it did fill her with pride. "I'm sorry okay, I just remembered all the stuff that happened, like why you found me in a river!"

"Oh," She was such an idiot! Of course he was going to be a bit different now that he had his memories. Even if he was still an idiot. Dammit that didn't matter, he was her idiot and he wasn't allowed to change! Her throat burned, stomach twisted in knots. Was the Naruto with her gone forever? He had seemed so similar. She squeezed her eyes shut trying to snag words out of the air that would make everything better. Stupid stupid stupid-

"Your new glasses look cute on you."

"Eh?" Karin opened her eyes. She was holding Naruto's face close to her own. She could kiss if she wanted to. Not that she wanted to but it was just that she could and he was smiling again, like he always did. She could see him so clearly, every detail of his adorkable face was so crisp. And kind of cute in a way and-

Her face was hot, very hot. Her heart was racing. Why was his face so close? Oh because she was holding him so close. Was she going to kiss him? She could, couldn't she? And she kind of wanted to. Right? It was normal and… and…

"Karin?" Naruto asked. His face snapped back into focus, he really did have wonderful blue eyes.

She dropped him like a rock. Holy crap they were right. They were all right. She was in love with the blond idiot she fished out of a river. All the hand holding, the cuddling for warmth. She rested her head on his shoulder! All of it slammed into her with a sudden clarity. Everytime someone asked if she was Naruto's girlfriend, not once did she bother to correct them.

It was just easier that way, that's what should told herself, but now the thought of it made her stomach fill with butterflies.

And now she was going to live with someone she loved! Was that going to make things awkward? No, yes, maybe? What if Naruto didn't feel the same way? What if he did? They were only thirteen! Who lets Thirteen year olds live by themselves and expect absolutely nothing to happen. Okay it was fine, she just had to not do anything with him. Naruto was an Idiot, so if it took her this long to figure it out, then it'd take him a few years to figure out his emotions. Or not.

What the hell was she going to do!?

"Karin?" The world snapped into focus, and his face was very very close to hers. He was standing that close to her on his own. Why was he so close? Was he going to kiss her? Would she let him? Yes, No! She needed a bath. He needed a bath. When was the last time either of them had brushed their teeth? Was it to soon? "Are you feeling okay? Your face is all red."

Was this some kind of a crappy romance novel or something? If he did the thing where he checked her temperature with his forehead she'd probably die. Or kiss him. Both!

"I'm fine!" she huffed, turning away from him, she couldn't bare to look at him right now without feeling her face go flush. Why now? Couldn't this have waited for a better time? Not while this Naruto was still new-ish to her even if he was the exact same idiot.

His hand! With a snarl she grabbed his hand weaving her fingers between his and began to pull him out the door. Why was she doing this? This was way to forward! There was no way that he could possible not know that she had feelings for him if she did this! She had no idea if that was a good thing! Stupid hormones! "Come on I'm hungry. We're going to go get ramen, then you're going to show me around."

"Oh, I know just the place!" Naruto pulled past her, almost pulling their hands apart. She locked her hand tight, he was not going to get away. "You're going to like this place, they have the best ramen in all of Konoha! Oh they might even give us a bowl on the house for coming back after so long! Man the old man is great!"

"Another old man?" Karin scrunched up her face in disgust. "Does this one drink to?"

"What? No that's just mostly the pervy-sage, Tazuna to I guess, and granny. I don't think I know anyone else that likes to drink like they do." Naruto smiled at her bursting through the hospital doors. There was still something hidden behind that smile though, something that she needed to get to the bottom of.

"Oh well that's good," Naruto did not need any more drunken perverts in his life! "So, now that you have your memories back, what do you think about me?"

If this was a romance novel he'd use this chance to confess to her! That's what she'd do. Maybe, hopefully, probably not!

"You're great Karin! Honestly you're one of the nicest people I know, you're also smart and funny, and you can put up with me being an idiot!" He tried to pull away from her again. "But umm, why are you holding my hand?"

"Cause I want to!" Karin pushed up her glasses, trying to ignore the growing blush. "You got a problem with that?"

"No!" he squeaked, submitting to her will like a good boyfriend should. "But don't you think people will get the wrong idea about us? Especially with a guy like me." He looked down towards the ground, still pressing her forward.

What the hell? Where did this come from? Naruto should have been larger than life, boasting about how awesome he is! Not this. "You listen here Naruto Uzumaki, you are are a kind, funny boy, that's actually kind of cute! And any girl worth your time would be happy to be seen with you. Got it?"

He nodded, lips shut tightly and eyes wide. "Thanks, Karin, that means a lot. Especially from you."

Now would be the perfect time to tell him how she feels! He's already down and if she told him that she loved him, then Naruto would realize that he loves her to and everything would be awesome and happy. Wait no. Not now, she could find a better time, after he told her what was wrong.

Then there was that whole Fourth Hokage thing.

XXXX

Ichiraku ramen was heaven on earth. The earthly smell, the heavenly aroma. It was perfection. And it was cheap as well! Her mouth had started to water before she had even stepped inside the building.

"Naruto!" A cute brown haired lady shouted when they walked in. She dropped whatever she was doing, running around the counter to pull Naruto into a tight hug. "Oh my goodness I'm so happy you're alive!"

"Hi there Ayame," Naruto smiled his body going rigged at the display of affection. "I didn't mean to worry you guys, I just kind of got lost for a while."

"Oh who cares, Dad look it's Naruto!" Ayame stood up a giant smile on her face, and tears in her eyes. Wiping her eyes she spotted Karin, and then hers and Naruto's interlocked hands. And a smile full of mirth appeared. "Oh, are you sure you got lost and weren't just busy because you had a new girlfriend?"

See! Everybody thought that they were already a couple. Why disappoint the world? "I'm Karin, I fished Naruto out of a river and have been stuck with him ever since."

"Hey!" Naruto whined.

"Sounds about right," Ayame smiled placing a finger onto her cheek and thumb under her chin. "We gave him free ramen once and he's been here every day since."

Naruto fumed. "Hey, you guys make it sound like I'm a burden. Or something."

"Not a burden per say," Ayame began ruffling Naruto's hair.

"But you are kind of helpless." Karin finished elbowing Naruto in the shoulder.

"Alright you two, enough teasing the boy." The old man from behind the counter top shouted. "Ayame you get back to work, while I whip up some ramen for Naruto and his friend, first round is on the house!"

Music to her ears.

It could have just been the fact that she was hungry, it could have been that she was just to happy, it could have been because she was with Naruto. But for whatever reason it may be, Karin just could not stop eating the ramen that was a waterfall of flavour pouring into her mouth. "We're eating here everyday."

Naruto hummed in agreement, a tower of bowls was building on the counter space between them.

XXXX

Naruto's home was a dump. But it was now their dump. Hidden away from the public by a series of stairs and alleyways, it almost felt out of place, like who ever built put it there just because they could. There was no yard, no mailbox, hell they didn't even have a street address.

She had never seen a more beautiful home.

And just in time too, her feet hurt!

The moment Naruto opened the door, she was inside of the modest dwelling. Even with a layer of dust that coated everything it was still- Karin came to a dead stop. Her spine tingling and her stomach ready to eject the lion's share of her ramen up. "What the hell is that smell!"

She pushed Naruto aside, desperate for fresh air. It smelled so foul! It was all she could do to keep her dinner inside of her. She did not want to have Ichiraku ramen spoiled for her by knowing what it tasted like coming up.

"Uhh," Naruto said emerging from his house, holding his nose and a garbage bag. "Month old garbarge."

The sun was getting low in the sky and now they had to scrub their home before it was even remotely liveable. Dammit. Karin backed away from Naruto, staying as far away as possible as he walked the garbage down the stairs. One thing was certain.

"We need cleaning supplies!"

XXXX

One trip to the store later, and about two hours of scrubbing everything smelled of oranges and disinfectant.

Karin let out a sigh, finally removing her cleaning mask - it didn't really help protect against the smell. She might have gone a little bit overboard, or a lot bit. It had started with just cleaning the kitchen/living room, then it progressed into a full cleaning of the house, which wasn't all that much space. But somehow it had the filth of a house several times its size.

"How goes the bathroom Naruto?" She asked tossing the rag into the garbage - it had put up a valiant fight and achieved victory, but there was no recovering it.

"I didn't know my shower was white!" He sounded so happy about that. "But I think I'm done… probably… I don't know what clean looks like!"

He was such a boy, at least he was a good worker. "Well, you can stop now, it's getting late."

The sun had long since set, and tomorrow was another day in her new home. One that was going to be filled with more running around with Naruto and exploring the town, after he finished training with Jiraiya that is.

Wandering into Naruto's… their room, Karin bounced onto the small bed feeling the clean sheets in all their crisp and slightly still warm glory. She was going to sleep so well tonight. Still, she was going to be bored in the morning, she should get some books. She had a month of reading to catch up on!

Or find out what exactly Tsunade had in mind for her. No, oddly enough all she wanted to do tomorrow was spend more time with Naruto. She had it bad for him, and it was the most amazing thing.

"So, uhh." Naruto stepped into the room, standing like a dork in the middle of it like he didn't belong. "Umm, where should I sleep? I could take the couch if you want."

"We'll worry about that later." Karin patted the bed beside her. "But for right now, we have a lot to talk about."

Naruto nodded, bouncing down next to her. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"You've been kind of off since the hospital, and you're going to tell me what's wrong."

His eyes went wide, before they fell again locking onto the floor. "It's about Sasuke."

"Who?" The name sounded familiar, wasn't that Naruto's teammate, along with Sakura. Wait, that was the name of the boy who saved her in the forest of death.

"My teammate," Naruto answered for her. "He's kind of the reason why I ended up in the river where you found me, now; it's well, I was fighting him because Orochimaru put this curse seal on him and was going to use Sasuke as his new body or something."

"That sounds creepy." Orochimaru that was another one of the legendary Sannin, and the one that killed several Grass Ninja to sneak into the chunin exams. Not that she'd cry over them, she was just lucky it wasn't her.

Naruto nodded. "Yep, but apparently he had to get a new body before Sasuke showed up, so now I have three years to rescue Sasuke."

"So That's what's bothering you?" Karin flopped down onto with a sigh, she could probably recognize Sasuke chakra if she tried, but there was no guarantee. It already felt like a distant echo after bathing in Naruto's warmth for so long. "Don't worry so much, I should be able to help you."

"Yea, I tried to tell Jiraiya that." That wasn't all was it? The Sasuke news wasn't why he was so down. "Jiraiya wants to take me on a training trip."

"Alone."

"Without you."

"What?" Her voice cracked, head wiping up from the bed fast enough to knock her glasses off. "What do you mean without you? Why the hell can't I come? Is there something wrong with me?"

Naruto backed away, looking like a guilty dog. "Believe me I don't want to go -"

"Then don't!" she grabbed onto his shirt, feeling whatever fury and strength that had spurred her on fading. "You can train here in Konoha… just please don't leave."

"I have to Karin, I, he wants to teach me something that I can't learn inside the village." Naruto swallowed. "And I need to get stronger, I promised that I would bring Sasuke back."

"You promised that you'd give me a home to, well it won't be home if your not there. So either you're staying or I'm going." she was crying now. The excitement she had built up for herself came crashing down around her burying her under a mountain of disappointment.

"I can't." Naruto touched her shoulders. "I'm really sorry Karin but I just can't."

"It's because of the Kyuubi isn't it?" Karin snapped back to glare at him for a moment. "I can sense it in you, Jiraiya wants you out of the village to teach you how to use it doesn't he?"

Naruto's eyes went wide. "You knew?"

"Of course I knew you idiot, I've known for a while, but it doesn't matter because you're still you." She buried her face into his shirt pushing him down onto the bed with her. Her arms bound his waist. She was not going to let him go. Not now not ever. She needed to make him trust her, to have him distrust them. Wait that was it! "They know who your father is by the way, just like how they knew your mom was Kushina."

"Karin, I-"

"It's the Fourth Hokage, the one that sealed the Kyuubi into you, he's your father and they lied to you, never telling you who he was keeping it a secret from you." She could feel his chakra, it was warm yet fierce, and the Kyuubi's chakra underneath it was storming. "You can't trust them Naruto, you can trust me though I…"

"Karin. That's enough." He pulled her into a hug. It felt nice, with his arms wrapped around her, and the rage in his chakra began to die down, even the Kyuubi's faded. "I have to do this okay. And I promise I'll come back to you."

"Please," She hated how weak she sounded, how desperate she was. Was this how it was going to end? She needed Naruto in her life, his smile, his kindness, his warmth. Everything about him she needed. Would he stay if she told him that she loved him? No, that didn't matter. His mind was made up. He was going, and she was staying. "Don't leave me."

"I'm sorry."

Tears carried her towards sleep.

When she awoke in the morning, Naruto had already left.

 **AN: Beta'd by xxTerror33xx**

 **Hey look, Karin figured it out, right in time for nothing to happen! Now then time to decide if I should write a few chapters about Karin's life in Konoha or just skip to Naruto's return.**


	14. Chapter 14

Karin glared at the ugly creature that starred back at her in the mirror. It was ragged, with eyes stained with tears, and hair that was even more of a mess than it normally was. Somehow after two days in bed eating proper food she was in worse shape than she had been trying to survive out there. With Naruto. That was the difference.

She should probably do...something. Anything. Even just going outside would be more than she'd done since Naruto left. She should probably do that, it'd be good for her. That and she was out of food. The ramen cups were piling up around the bed. Naruto was right, they really were the best food, cheap, quick, easy, filling, and tasty.

Naruto. She gripped the counter top. That stupid idiot! How the hell could he just leave her here all by herself in the middle of Konoha! She didn't belong here, she belonged with him! Even if he was a stupid jerk bastard! Just thinking about him made her so - her hands fell from the counter, and she leaned forward her head pressing against the cold surface of the mirror. Apparently she was wrong, she still had more tears left. "Stupid jerk."

"Come home safe, and fast." Just about three years left before he came back. She could live without him for three years. She did it for like thirteen before she even met him. And she only knew him for like a month. So maybe after a month she'd stop missing him. A hand clutched at her heart. "But… I don't want to stop missing him."

Such a thing felt impossible, even as her happy memories of their time turned bitter sweet.

What would people say if she went out like this? Nothing but a mess, wearing her one set of clothes, that hadn't been washed properly in days, and her hair was a wild grease covered mess filled with split ends. Did she even care? Not really.

There was a knock on the door loud enough to make her jump and snap out of her thoughts. Her minds eye sparked to life and she felt Konoha, all the warmth and joy that came from being within a true ninja village was open to her. The range closed in, masses of chakra became motes, motes became people. And people became familiar.

It was Sakura, and one of Naruto's other friends. Female, strong, confidant. It must be the blond girl. What the hell did they want? Sakura knew that Naruto was gone… probably. The girl spent a lot of time around the Hokage doing something and she was close to Naruto so she had to know he was gone.

Why the hell was she here?

There was more knocking, louder this time. "Karin!" it was a muffled through the door.

Great they were after her. Maybe if she just didn't move they would leave.

More banging. "Karin! I know you're in there! Open the door or I'll knock it down!" Violent woman.

"Fine!" Karin growled stomping out of the bath and slamming door - hopefully loud enough for Sakura to hear - and marched towards the front door. The house shook when she threw open the front door, likely leaving a mark on the wall. "What the hell do you want?"

"You look like shit," The blonde girl said.

"Ino," Sakura chided, smacking her friend in the chest lightly. "Be nice."

"Again, what the hell do you want?" Karin growled running a hand through her tangled hair. "I'm a little busy."

"Doing what?" Sakura asked, smiling like a lion before a cornered rat. "Moping around because Naruto left you to go on a training trip?" Sakura took a step forward. "Well you're not the only one you know, I just got him back for maybe a day and then he's gone again. Him and Sasuke both left me here alone and do you know what I'm doing?"

"Threatening to break down people's doors?" She really should try to be nicer to Sakura. She was Naruto's friend and teammate. But the girl just had a really, really punchable face.

Ino snorted.

Sakura huffed and folded her arms. "Well you weren't answering, and you really need to get out of the house. Two days is long enough to mope around that Naruto left. Especially because we know that he'll come back."

She did have a point. "Fine, but what do _you_ want."

"Well," Sakura scratched the back of her head blushing slightly.

Ino elbowed Sakura in the side offering Karin a wink. "Your boyfriend asked her to make sure that you feel at home and Sakura feels guilty."

Oh so that's how it was. Part of her was happy that Naruto was still trying to look after. The rest of her was filled with fury. She slammed the door shut, but it was stopped by an imposing foot.

"Hey, look, just give it a shot okay, besides Master wants to speak with you later." Sakura was pleading, trying to stick her head in through the door. "I'm really trying to be your friend here."

"Tsunade said that if we could have the day off if we spent it with you." Ino said from behind the door. The girl was starting to grow on her.

"Ino!" Sakura shouted turning her head back. "You're not helping!"

With a sigh Karin opened the door, allowing Sakura to stumble into her apartment. She met Sakura's green eyes with her own. "Why does the Hokage want me?"

"Well, I think she wants to train you along side me and Ino." Sakura gave a nervous laugh. "I think she might have been a little drunk. Still it's technically my first day off so what do you say?"

Ino snorted like a pig. "Puh-lease forehead, you're the one that's been working your butt off days off or not."

"Forehead?" Karin asked. Enjoying the annoyed look on Sakura's face.

"Just a nickname because of how big her forehead is." Ino waved it off like it was nothing.

Karin stared at Sakura's forehead. It was rather large, especially with her bangs parted like that. "Yea, I can see that."

Sakura growled, knuckles cracking as her hands formed into fists. She grabbed Ino by her shirt growling like a bear roused from a nap. "Gee thanks Ino-pig, I appreciate you telling everybody about that embarrassing nickname!"

"So, is she Ino-pig because she oinks when she laughs?" Or maybe it was just because of her name, wasn't Ino a word for pig? That seems like a cruel name.

The two girls stared at her, Ino's face was red. And Sakura looked to be fighting down a storm of giggles. Then she exploded, grabbing at her sides to keep the giggles inside her. "Yep that's pretty much it!"

"Can it Four-eyes!" Ino shouted, glaring at Karin, before turning to Sakura. "And laugh it up Forehead, I'll get you back!"

Four-eyes huh? She had been called that many times in the past mostly by her own peers as they pushed and shoved her. But this felt different. There was a joy in it that brought a smile onto Karin's face. Her first smile since Naruto left. "As fun as this is, what did you have in mind?"

The two girls shared a smile that would have swallowed either one of them whole, their bickering all but forgotten.

"Considering how you're new to town, and don't really have any clothes." Sakura began grabbing onto Karin's hand. She had really rough hands for a girl. "We're going to take you out shopping."

Spending money. One of her favorite activities, right next to fighting, watching paint dry, and getting bitten.

Ino grabbed her other hand and they both began to pull her out the door. "But first, a trip to the spa for a much needed bath and makeover!"

XXXX

She didn't stop missing him. Just twenty more months until he returned. Not that she was counting or anything. It was just constantly at the back of her mind like a calendar behind her eyelids. Sometimes it helped her focus, other times it made it impossible.

Still it didn't hurt so much anymore. Just bitter disappointment whenever she woke up and didn't feel his chakra nearby.

Ino let out a groan, collapsing onto the couch like a dying star. "I don't know how you two can do this all day! I'm starting to see medical texts when I blink."

Karin looked up from her latest medical text about the application of healing missing tissue using hair as a medium. She met eyes with Sakura, a few blinks later and the two just shrugged. "It's like you say Ino, Sakura has a giant Forehead so she has lots of room up there, and I'm a four-eyed nerd that likes to read."

"Bitch," Ino groaned, opening one eye and flopping down onto the floor. "So how are you guys doing with that seal thing?"

Sakura's hand flew to her forehead, rubbing at the same spot where Karin felt hers. It felt like there should have been more ceremony regarding one of Tsunade's most powerful techniques. Starting it was easy, a bit of paint on the forehead and some instructions to never stop syphoning chakra to that location.

"It's doing fine," Sakura said with a smile giving a weak laugh. "It's just a bit draining, I didn't have all that much chakra to begin with."

From the ground Ino flailed, scrambling up to resume her spot at their table. "What about you Karin?"

Karin felt her cheeks warm. "Well, the seal was originally designed by Uzumaki so it might be a bit easier for me."

"Wait, what do you mean? I thought Master made the seal." Ino asked, grabbing at the bland crackers Shizune had given them.

"It was in the Advanced Medical Seals book Ino." Sakura dug through the text pulling out a boring yellow book that looked just like the rest of their books. "It was developed by Mae Uzumaki, but its most famous user was Mito Uzumaki."

Ino groaned onto the table. "Both of you are able to do all of this so easily!"

"Oh come on, you're doing just fine," Sakura said.

Karin bit her lip, it wasn't that Ino wasn't trying. But, the girl's passions resided elsewhere, like she was only here so that Sakura wouldn't beat her. Not that Karin had room to talk.

"No I'm not, I already failed to keep the seal going twice now!" Ino whined.

"So?" Karin raised an eyebrow. "Shizune couldn't do it either and she's still a great medical ninja."

"Yea." Sakura joined in. "Come on Ino, you can't give up now."

"I'm not!" Ino shot back up, slamming her hands onto the table. "I'm going to see this through and be more useful to Choji and Shikamaru!"

That was why those two were here. They were tired of feeling useless. Ino for Shikamaru and Choji. Sakura for Naruto and Sasuke. Compared to them, Karin was just kind of there. Sure, she wanted to help Naruto, but she already had a powerful healing ability in the raw transfer of life force. And aside from the scars she received it was arguably one of the best ways to heal someone.

And in Konoha, she wouldn't be forced to use that ability. Still as a medic she wouldn't be expected to fight. For now, this was the best path forward.

XXXX

A year and a half was all that separated her and Naruto's return. The other half shouldn't even been that bad. She had lots to keep her busy, between Tsunade's training picking up, work at the hospital beginning, and her still trying to find her role in Konoha.

Ino now only joined the training and study sessions half as much as she used to, focusing on her other skills instead. Sad thing was that she was still probably one of the better field medics in Konoha.

Karin, hummed as she walked down the winding hallways of the Hokage tower, arms full of reports that only needed to be signed with a quick note, after a brief read. The new system she had suggested was working out great, speed was up and overall paperwork was down.

By the time Naruto became Hokage she should have everything running at maximum efficiency.

Using her back to push open the door Karin spun into Tsunade's office. "I brought the-" her voice died in her throat. She knew there was another person in here. She could feel their chakra, it was strong, and familiar. She should have remembered his chakra. She should have waited, instead of letting her status as the Hokage assistant get the better of her judgement.

The Head Jounin of the Village Hidden in the Grass turned to face her. Dull lifeless eyes staring at her with all the contempt he could muster as the corner of his mouth twisted upwards into a snarl. "Ahh, Karin it is good you're still alive." He turned back to Tsunade. "I'll be taking my ninja home as well."

No, please no. She dropped the reports. She had been careless. So careless, she should have known he was coming the moment he stepped inside of Konoha, she should have remembered that violent chakra that made her want to vomit. His cruelness froze her to the bone.

"Excuse me?" Tsunade asked raising an eyebrow. "We don't have any Grass Ninja held captive, nor any living within the city."

He walked over to her grabbing her by the wrist, holding it above her head like she was some prize he had just won. "Ahh so she's been lying to you, this is K-"

Tsunade slammed her hands on the table making the man jump. "That is Karin Uzumaki, last queen of the Uzumaki, a loyal ninja of Konoha, and protected under the Third's proclamation that all Uzumaki refugees will be welcomed inside of Konoha."

"You can't be serious, this girl is a-"

The sound of Tsunade's heels tapping against the floor drowned out all sound. With a deliberate slowness that could freeze water, The Hokage walked in front of the tall man glaring up at him. Despite her diminutive stature Tsunade's confidence made her appear as a giant. "That girl is my apprentice, my queen, and my ninja, now unless you want to risk war I suggest you unhand her."

For a moment Karin wondered if the man would do it. Or if Tsunade really would go to war for her. Then the Jounin dropped her.

"Very well Lord Hokage." With that he bowed and left. His face was full of fury and his chakra was a fire storm of anger.

Karin placed a hand over her heart, feeling it beat violently against her chest. She felt ready to pass out at any moment. "Thank you."

Tsunade placed a hand on her shoulder and brought her into a hug. "Don't worry about it brat, that jerk was pissing me off anyways. Besides, even if he wasn't such an ass I doubt Naruto would be to keen if I let his fiance get taken away so easily."

"Fiance?" Karin smirked. "What happened to girlfriend?"

The older woman clicked her teeth and released her from the hug. "Well you don't react when I call you that, dammit part of the fun of watching young love is teasing them about it."

"Sorry for spoiling your fun."

"Bleh, anyways, I have some things I want to talk to you about."

Karin began to scoop up some of the scattered papers. "Oh, such as?"

"Both the Intelligence division, and the T&I division have accepted your request." Tsunade walked over to her desk, grabbing a pair of scrolls. "All you have to do is choose."

 **AN: Beta'd by xxTerror33xx. I decided to do a chapter of Karin in Konoha. Might do another, maybe not. Now, to resist the urge to make a Karin x Sakura spin off.**


	15. Chapter 15

For three hours, he stared at the stern face of the Hokage. He hadn't been in many interrogation rooms, three to be exact, but Konoha's was unusual. He was bound to the table, chair, floor, and back onto him. by a tangled web of heavy iron chains and more than a dozen seals layered upon one another, so thick they made a buzzing noise. This was not uncommon. But what was weird was where he was being kept.

Most places, like to throw people into the darkest, dirtiest, foulest, pit they could dig out of the earth. Kind of as a way of showing that there was no hope. They also like to have a corpse in various states of decay hanging from the wall. Instead, Konoha had him in a clean room well lit room in a comfortable chair, with his only company being the ANBU that didn't so much as breathe, and a picture of the Hokage sitting opposite of him, like he was just supposed to spill the beans out of respect.

These Konoha ninja sure did love their Hokage. She did have a nice rack though.

Compared to Kumo, this place was going to be easy. He might even let them keep him here for a bit as a little vacation, working for Akatsuki was no easy job after all. He earned a break.

The door creaked open, and a mouse of a woman slipped in carefully locking the door behind her. She looked young, with square black frame glasses, and hair the same color as a flesh wound cleaned of blood tied in a neat ponytail. Konoha headband firmly in place. She had on a white coat that looked two sizes to be several sizes to small for her, and an array of scrolls and maps in her hand.

"Sorry I'm late," she stumbled forward bowing in front of him. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting so long, I'm Karin and I'll be your interrogator today."

The fuck? She looked more like a misplaced scholar! "Uhh, no, I was just getting comfortable actually."

"Oh that's excellent," Karin clapped her hands smiling at him like an overly excited school girl.

Okay, she was clearly the good cop, now where was the hardass bad cop?

"So, this is my first time doing an interrogation." Her glasses slid down her nose, she flung her hair back and smiled sitting down across from him. The picture of the Hokage and her pile of scrolls all that separated them. Sitting down she seemed even shorter somehow. "So, if you could please just tell me what I want to know, that'd be wonderful! I'm sure I'd get a promotion for it!"

Was this girl stupid? This girl was stupid wasn't she? There was no way that he would tell her just because she asked, even if he could. "Sorry, you're not cute enough for me to just tell you everything."

Her lip twitched into the smallest bit of a smile, before she fell forward onto the table her head resting next to the Hokage's picture. "Oh, poo. And here I was hoping we could get out of here early!"

She stood, scratching her head slightly. "Are you sure you won't just give me the location? I mean we'd reward you, and we wouldn't even have to torture you! So its win win."

This girl was something else! He couldn't help but let out a laugh that caused his stomach to hurt. "You got to be stupid girl, there's no way I'd give you anything! Besides, torture? You Konoha shinobi are too nice, there's no way you'd actually torture." He pointed towards the Hokage picture with his chin. "Not with your Hokage watching."

He continued to laugh. And the girl began to scramble about, collecting her parchments and spreading out a map before him.

"I see," she came to a dead stop, and the room dropped ten degrees. His laughter died and he looked at her in the eyes. Were they always that blood red color, looking down at him like he was some insulte pup that refused to learn. She pushed up her glasses, and pulled off her head band unleashing a wild mane of blood red hair.

And that smile, that heavenly demonic smile that said one thing and one thing only. He had fallen into her trap. No, it wasn't too late he could compose himself, he was in control of her emotions. The sound of her forehead protector tapping against the table might as well have been thunder.

It's scrapping motion as she pushed it off to the side sent a chill up his spine.

"The Hokage," She traced her fingers along the wood frame of the picture. "Konoha," she placed the picture face down, sealing his fate. "Let's forget about those things for the moment, the only thing in here is, you, me, a couple of maps, and that beautiful information you kept locked in your mind."

She presented him with a map. His heart was racing. "Oh, and let's forget about that little seal in your throat. All you have to do is nod, and point, no talking required. Easy right?"

She knew about the seal? How did she know about the seal? This didn't make any sense. No it was fine, they didn't have anything on him. He could calm down.

"All we really want is verification, your friend already told us all we need to know."

Friend? No! They couldn't have! Jinburo's mind was a steel box sealed at the bottom of the ocean. If they cracked him, he didn't stand a chance. No, he had to remain calm.

Her finger began to travel along the map, wandering around in circles. Where was she going to stop? Was she just going doing this to pass time? Was she bored? She was heading towards the secret base in Grass. Circling it again and again. No! They knew! How could they know?

She stopped right on top of the base, his heart was pounding. "You see, we already know, we just want confirmation. You can tell us everything, or we can dig out the information from your mind. I don't really care which."

XXXX

"She really is rather frightening at this." Inoichi laughed watching Karin tear every piece of information from the man. When it came to gathering information Konoha had always had two ways of extracting information. His way had always been risky, traveling inside the mind and taking out chunks of information as needed.

Ibiki nodded, his way was that of a frenzied wolf, he would tear you to shreds to get his information. Both ways left the victim a broken man. "She's bored."

"Bored?" Inoichi asked, eyes still focused on Karin, she was like a surgeon, carefully removing the information with as little damage as possible. Her gift of reading chakra as well as a natural theatrical personal lended themselves well towards this line of work. "How can she be bored?"

"Perhaps bored is the wrong word for it." Ibiki took a step back, hands tight behind his back. "But I do not think she will be with us for much longer."

"But she's good at this."

"She was a good medic as well."

That was a fair point. "So what, we're just going to let her walk?"

"When the time comes." Ibiki offered a rare smile. "I think that she's so use fighting for her life that nothing else really comes close. A kite only flies because the wind blows against it."

"That was rather insightful," Inoichi didn't dare take his eyes off of Karin, as her supervisor he had to be certain of her safety… and take notes. "How do you know so much about Karin? Did she tell you this recently?"

"You could say that," Ibiki gestured at her with his hand. "Her body language says it all, you'd know that if you bothered to learn how to read a person's body."

Inoichi laughed, "Learning new tricks is a difficult thing a my age."

His laughter died and he looked at the Uzumaki torment the man in the room. "Still, it'd be a shame to lose her, she has a lot of talent. For this line of work."

"Be grateful, if she stayed you'd be taking orders from her in a few years."

That was a very good point.

XXXX

Any day now. Any day that stupid blond idiot would show up in her mind's eye and she would have her revenge. It was his own fault really. Just leaving her all alone in Konoha, to go off and train. Even after all she did for him and all he promised her.

Karin squealed into her bed kicking her legs against the sheets. It was so perfect, she had managed to roll up her revenge, desires, and a plan to make sure that Naruto couldn't think about anybody her into one delicious twelve part scheme. She couldn't wait for him to get back.

"He better comeback tall, and super hunky." Biting her lip she flopped back onto her stomach, staring up at the ceiling of what would eventually be hers and Naruto's room. Technically it was still his room, even if she did eventually replace all the furniture in it. But she had lived in it for three years so it was more hers.

Everything was set, extra lumpy couch so that he'd come in begging to sleep in her bed. Sexy red nightgown that was going to blow his mind. And then there was perfume. So many wonderful perfumes she had a hard time choosing which one to seduce Naruto with. In there end she settled on a lovely cherry scent that was bound to drive him wild.

"Alright, enough fantasizing," She sat up slapping the blush from her cheeks. "I need to start setting the lab up and-" She felt him. On the edge of her vision she felt that massive warm ball of chakra that was Naruto. His flavor was brighter, warmer, stronger. He had grown. The Kyuubi still raged at his core.

"He's here!" Karin shot out of bed, scrambling towards her closet. This was so soon! She wasn't ready what on earth was she going to wear? What could she wear? Nothing! She couldn't wear anything! Wait was that to sudden!? Yes it very much was! The night gown! Wait no! The little black dress Ino had forced her to buy -oh, who was she kidding? She was all over this dress - would be absolutely perfect! If they were going out on a date.

"No," She said to herself, shaking the jazz out of her fingers. "Stick to the plan girl, we need to make him as crazy about us as we are about him." Her standard Shinobi gear would do, to show him that she is an adult now and a professional. "Or at least half as crazy."

Some small insignificant part of her mind had told her that she had only known Naruto for a month and that he had been gone for three years. That part had been beaten into a corner. And now that he was back. She could feel it. Just his chakra alone was making her heart go wild!

Clutching her lab coat Karin twirled into the mirror. She was gearing up for war. "I hope you're ready Naruto because you won't know what hit you."

XXXX

Naruto smiled at the gates of Konoha. Just one more step and he would officially be home. This was it. It felt like his life was finally going to start after a long pause. He'd be able to see his friends, Karin, Sakura, Shikamaru, and the rest of them too! And granny! He couldn't wait to show off how awesome he was now!

He took the step. It didn't feel as grand as it could have been. Where was the parade? The welcoming party? His promotion? Oh wait, no one probably knew that he was back. Oh well.

"Hey brat," Jiraiya slapped him on his back, nodding up the road. "Your girlfriend's here."

"She's not my girlfri-" The words died in Naruto's mouth as he saw Karin walk through the crowds like a lioness, wearing her confidence with such finesse. Red eyes glared right at him, her gaze of fire shaking him to his very core.

It was Karin alright, of that there was no doubt, same black frame glasses, same red hair, same green stone around her neck. Same Karin. But oh so much more. A Konoha headband was tied tightly to her arm, and a long flowing white lab coat trailed after her. With graceful glide and brazen stride she sucked him in.

Everything around her faded to black and only the sound of her heels clanking against the hard dirt resonated.

"Hi," He whispered when she was close. His throat was dry, and his mind was blank. "Karin."

She smiled like an angel. Then kissed him like a demon. Snatching away his breath and taking everything she could. His self control was lost at her caress, and he kissed her back, willingly giving her absolutely everything.

Body, mind, soul, she could have it all.

"Idiot." Then she was gone, leaving him standing there in the middle of Konoha street kissing nothing but air.

And leaving him incredibly confused. Was that how he really wanted to meet Karin? With a kiss? No… that couldn't be right could it? She was… she was just a friend.

"How long to plan to stand their daydreaming brat," Jiraiya grumbled walking past him. "We better go see Tsunade before she gets mad at us."

XXXX

Karin placed a hand on her beating heart smiling. She did it! Sure it was a genjutsu, but she had finally kissed Naruto! Oh and his chakra tingling with hers it was enough to make her go wild! But no, she had to stick to the plan.

Still, if that's what a fake kiss with Naruto felt like, she couldn't wait for the real deal. "After a bit of torture of course!"

 **AN: Beta'd by xxTerror33xx. And now the fun begins... also might have made Karin slightly Mary Sue.**


	16. Chapter 16

Girls were weird.

That was a life lesson that Naruto had to learn several times in his life. From Sakura getting mad that he said she still looked the same, to Granny always trying to hide her age. He just didn't get it. At least Karin wasn't weird, okay she was a little weird, but not that weird.

He hoped at any rate.

Still, he hadn't actually seen her since he got back, just that weird daydream he had when he first got back; knowing Karin she was probably too busy reading a book or something like that to come see him. But then again he'd only been in Konoha for an hour.

Wait, didn't they live technically live together? How was that going to work?

"Hey, Sakura does Karin still live in my apartment?" Naruto asked walking up the final set of stairs towards the Hokage tower. It felt so good to be back, everything was basically the same as he left it.

Sakura hummed placing a finger on her chin. "Yep, though it can hardly be called your apartment now."

"Ehh?" Naruto whined, "Why's that, it's still my home."

"Its Karin's home too, has been for the last couple of years." Sakura elbowed him in the ribs, "You might be sleeping on the couch for a bit."

Great, she had a point Karin probably had rightful claim to the bed. Maybe she got him a second bed? Or her own bed, but where would she put it? The apartment was small, he could live in the living room he guessed. That wouldn't be to bad. "So-"

The door to the Hokage's office opened. Karin walked out, head held high, square black glasses framing her face. Her hair was long and wild, half straight half curly, and the same strawberry red he remembered. Her lab coat billowed behind her as she carried an armful of papers and scrolls.

"Oh, hi Karin!" Naruto bounded towards her. That weird daydream he had replayed in his mind, her look, that kiss, everything still made his body tingle. He didn't even think about Karin like that. Sure she was a good friend and everything. "How have you been?"

She didn't even look at him, a cool smile on her face. When she walked past him, she flicked her hair sending a torrent of scent his direction. It smelled like all of spring rolled into one, cherry, strawberry, flowers, wind, rain, and sun, but it was still uniquely Karin.

"Sakura," Karin nodded, waving at the other girl before vanishing down the stairs.

That was actually her, right? It wasn't just another weird daydream? He prefered the kissing one. At least, that one he knew was fake and had Karin's attention. He watched as her form descended down the stairs, heels clicking on each step.

"Wow," Sakura laughed, scratching the back of her neck. "I knew she was mad at you , but not that mad at you."

"Mad? Why would she be mad? I just got here!" then again, he seemed really good at making people angry within the first few seconds of seeing them again. Especially girls. Girls were weird. Especially Karin.

Sakura just shrugged, giving him the same sigh she used to when he said something stupid. "Honestly why do you think? After what you two went through and then just leaving her here in Konoha? It'd piss me off too."

"But I'm back now so she shouldn't be mad, and that was like three years ago!"

"A girls heart doesn't change that easily Naruto, and honestly if you can't figure out why Karin would still be mad at you then I feel sorry for the girl." Sakura pushed him front behind. "Come on, Master probably wants to speak to you."

"Wait, what about Karin?" He tried to stop her, but Sakura was a lot stronger than she looked.

"Ask her about it later."

XXXX

By the time he was finally able to get home it was closer to morning than it was to sun down. The moonlight battled with the warm glow coming from inside his apartment. Was Karin still awake? Or did she just leave the lights on? She did seem like a night owl type of person.

Good news was that his key still fit. Karin wasn't mad enough to change the locks!

"Karin?" he asked slowly cracking open the door. "I'm home, I think, please don't be mad at me."

No response, she must be asleep.

The inside of his apartment was different. Very different. The walls were slowly being devoured by an amalgamation of bookcases of all shapes and sizes that were overflowing with books and scrolls like Karin had stolen parts from the library. Where the bookcases didn't touch photographs and other items filled the space. A few were of Karin's years in Konoha, a few were of her Sakura and Ino, and a group photo of Karin with a bunch of scary looking guys.

But one photo drew his eyes like moths to a flame. It was of a red haired woman and a blonde man, the woman was embarrassed holding a hand to her face while wearing a jacket slightly too large for her, and the man was smiling ear to ear, they were holding hands. His parents.

Just like that, perhaps for the first time his apartment felt like a home.

His old couch that he had gotten for free was replaced by a smaller couch, filled to the brim with pillows. A chair that was more cushion than actual chair sat in the corner, a pile of books reached its arm rest. his little T.V. was still here.

The air smelled of a variety of fragrances that was almost strong enough to get rid of the smell of ramen he had baked into the place. Wait, ramen? That was fresh!

Following his nose, Naruto found the a bowl of ramen and Karin in the kitchen.

She was asleep at the table, face buried in a pile of books, glasses pushed up into the tangled mess of her hair. It was enough to make his heart skip a beat. She looked adorable.

Two empty bowls of ramen sat next to her, and a full one across from her sat untouched with a fresh set of utensils. Did she make him ramen? Wasn't she mad at him? Why was she making ramen for him; unless it was for someone else.

"Karin," He pushed on her shoulder. "It's not good to sleep in a chair, and I need to talk to you."

She groaned, her red eyes flickering open to a half awake state, a smile graced her lips. "Oh, darling you're home."

"Darling?" Naruto asked blinking, did she have a boyfriend. "No its-"

Her arms draped around his neck as she pulled him down into a kiss, or kind of, it was little more than her lips touching his before she fell backwards. Asleep once again. Dammit! What the hell? He scrambled to catch Karin before she hit the ground.

That was twice in one day! Kind of.

Again his lips sparked, his heart raced and his mind, well his mind wasn't doing a whole lot, it was filled with absorbing as much of Karin as it possibly could. He had her in his arms, a soft smile on her face as she nuzzled closer to him.

Had she always sleep talked? Sure she was kind of a cuddle bug back when they were kids but that was mostly for survival. He should wake her, actually wake her. No, that was a bad idea, it was late anyways. They could talk in the morning.

Placing an arm under her back and one under her legs, and her head resting on his shoulder, he picked her up, carefully walking back towards his bedroom. Or rather Karin's room, there was a new coat of paint, a soft purple that was easy on the eyes, a desk that was cluttered with papers and coffee cups in equal helpings, and a waste basket filled with bundled up papers.

The smell was stronger in here, but different, a soft lilac smell that could only be described as Karin. It called to him, begging him to stay and sleep here. "No, that'd just make Karin even angrier at me."

He sighed, setting her down onto her bed. Should he put her under the covers? It might get cold tonight. But it was also Konoha, unless it was winter. She'd be fine, maybe just the top cover. There, she looked snug, and cozy.

When he pulled away from her, something stopped him. Karin was still clenching his sleeves. "Please. Don't. Leave."

Her hand dropped and she turned in the bed. "Again."

What the hell? What was happening? Was this because of how he left without saying goodbye? He felt bad about just leaving her before, but now the guilt was overwhelming. He should stay. It'd be fine for him to stay, she wanted him to. Until she woke up and then strangled him in his sleep.

It technically was his bed.

No! Besides that'd be weird, two teenagers that hadn't seen each other in years sleeping in the same bed. Hell he barely knew her. Apparently she was a medic nin drop out, a drop out interrogator, and now was working as a researcher for some kind of jutsu thingy. At least she was still technically a genin.

But aside from that and the fact that she used to be a bossy when she was thirteen he knew next to nothing about her. She did like ramen though. Wait, was that homemade ramen? He was hungry.

It'd be a shame to let good ramen like that go to waste.

XXXX

Karin could barely contain her squeals throughout the whole ordeal. Step two and three had gone exactly as planned. She lured Naruto in by ignoring him, setting up a facade that she was mad at him, and then made him question everything by pretending to be asleep.

She bit her lip and pressed her face into her pillow. There was no way that she could sleep now! Not after that kiss! It took all of her will power not to press further and blab everything to her blonde idiot now. She couldn't wait! The touching, the hand holding, the kissing, the terrible nicknames, the needless arguments; she wanted it all.

And they were making excellent progress, soon Naruto would be willing to accept her feelings and then hopefully start to fall for her as well. At this rate they might even be able to skip steps nine through twelve.

But for now, she'd need to at least try to sleep. Something that might be easier now that Naruto's chakra was so close. That warm, wonderful energy that shined like the sun. She'd missed it almost as much as she missed him. If she was reading Naruto's chakra correctly then he was conflicted, confused about her and everything else that had happened.

But he was also happy. And that was what mattered. She'd talk to Naruto tomorrow, engaging in step four of her plan, but for now sleep, and dreaming of her first real kiss with her future boyfriend.

XXXX

His neck hurt.

Karin's couch was too short to sleep on, his feet dangled off the end. He really should have just slept in the same bed as her. Or on the ground, yea that sounded safe. And better for his neck. There was more than enough pillows to kind of make a bed.

A slam on the coffee table shocked him out of his half awake state. It was Karin, she was in a pair of yellow pajama pants and a loose fitting yellow tank-top. Her hair was a wild mess, pushed over to her one side. She looked comfortable, it was impossible to take his eyes off of her.

"Coffee," she pointed towards the mug filled with brown liquid she had slammed on the table. She sat in the chair across from him, crossing her legs to glare at him and sip from her own mug. She looked so adorable as she was waking up.

"Thanks," his voice grated against his throat. Something to drink was just what he needed. It did smell kind of funny though. He was barely about to take a sip. "What the hell is this? It's so bitter!"

"Coffee," she repeated, her face still buried in the mug. "Apparently it tastes good with curry, the T&I department got me hooked on it."

Silence hung in the air as she continued to sip from the mug.

He should say something. But what could he say? Sorry for leaving you like that? I'm back so you can stop being mad? I keep dreaming about you kissing me? There were so many different things that he could say and the one that came out of his mouth was. "Hi"

She raised an eyebrow, her mug now empty. "Hi?"

"So, uhh listen about that umm thing?" Crap he was screwing this up. A sliver of a smile cracked on her face. That was good! It meant she thought he was… well he actually didn't know what that meant. But smiles were good! "I'm sorry I left like that."

She shrugged, running a hand through her tangled bedhead. "That's only part of the reason I'm mad at you. But I am happy you're back."

"Happy to be back."

"But, that doesn't mean you're off the hook." That sliver grew revealing a malicious smile that threatened to eat him up. "You have a lot to make up for Naruto, leaving me high and dry like that. And being late for that dinner I cooked for you."

"Oh, so that was for me? I thought you had a boyfriend or something." The smile vanished, and a scowl took its place. "It was good even when cold."

"Dammit," she spat, slamming her own mug down onto the table. Her footfalls were like the thunder of an angry god as she stomped towards the door. "What the hell do you want, I'm trying to fucking talk to an idiot!"

She threw the door open revealing Kakashi. How did she know he was there? Oh right, her sensor ability.

Kakashi just waved, "Sorry to ruin your reunion. But we have a mission; Akatsuki has captured Gaara."

"Fuck," Karin swore, spinning away from the door, her red eyes burning a hole into him. "Listen here, Naruto, this is your home just as much as it is mine. So make sure you come back to it."

He smiled, and nodded. "Don't worry I'll be back before you know it!"

It didn't look like she believed him.

 **AN: Beta'd by xxTerror33xx. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It kind of feels like I'm just extending the fic for a needless reason, at least to me. but what do you think?**

*Now to go write rwby stuff... hopefully*


	17. Chapter 17

Step six of her plan was exciting, terrifying, risky, and riskaaaay.

While all the other steps involved emotional appeal of some sorts - his sense of home, what he thought of her, tricking him into wanting to please her - this step went after Naruto's physical desire with raw sex appeal. Or whatever sex appeal she could muster. She did have confidence in her body.

But all that seemed to vanish as she stared at herself in the mirror clad in a pair of red and black panties, matching bra and of course her glasses. She wasn't sexy, at least not compared to someone like Ino, but she had enough there that maybe just maybe she could tantalize Naruto with it. If anything she looked like a tall little girl.

This was a mistake. A huge, colossal, gargantuan mistake. What if Naruto looked at her and thought that she looked like a little girl? Or worse; a little sister. "If only you two grew a bit more, then maybe."

Now was not the time for doubts or wishes. It was do or die time. Naruto was out there, and if his chakra was anything to go by he'd be waking up soon. She needed to put her game face on.

XXXX

Redheaded ass.

There was something magical about waking up to a beautiful ass directly in line of sight. Her legs went on for miles, tantalizing lines of sexuality that extended upwards to her two cheeks of ass contained in a pair of red and black panties. Above that, was an orange shirt that barely kissed the top of her hips.

A curtain of red hair spread a warmth through his body like the first rays of sun. It was as long and as wild as an inferno in the wind, dancing even when standing still. He was completely and utterly enchanted by the red haired beauty that was in his sights.

She turned and the enchantment was broken. It was Karin, half asleep brushing her teeth with a comb stuck in her hair. And a different spell began to weave over him, Karin; Karin was hot. Her bed head was just begging to have his fingers tangled inside of it, half lidded eyes half obscured by her glasses were glossed overness with a tired comfortness that made him happy to wake up.

Then there was the toothbrush half sticking out of her mouth as she gave a giant yawn that was twice as cute as a kitten meowing. Everything about her demanded his attention, and he was all to willing to give it to her.

"Were you staring at my ass?" Karin asked, pointing her toothbrush at him like it was a dagger.

"What?" Did he always sound so stupid in the morning?

She marched over to him, her petite frame somehow causing the whole building to shake. "You were staring at my ass weren't you? Don't bother lying; I'll know."

He swallowed, desperately trying not to notice how the front of her shirt, was open, exposing her smooth sexy belly that was just begging to be touched. Dammit. He was attracted to Karin. She was hot, she was his roommate, clansmen, and a dozen other things, but she was very few of the things he wanted right now. "Umm… yes?"

"Did you like it?"

"What?" He must still be dreaming or something.

She took another step forward. "Do you like my ass?" She smiled at him, looking much more awake with each second. "Remember, I'll know if you lie."

He shrunk back down onto the couch, trying to press as much of his body into it as possible so that she wouldn't be able to see anything. "Yes?"

She smiled. "Good," She spun on her heels walking over to the kitchen sink, her butt jiggling all the way. "I don't like to wear pants at home," She stopped and popped her hip to the side so that her ass bounced. "And now that I know you don't mind looking at it, I'll be sure to be as pantless as possible."

Oh god why? One the one hand he got to see that delightful bum whenever they were home together. On the other he was going to have to try and not look like a pervert in front of Karin the whole time. Something that was becoming increasingly hard.

"So," Karin finished, brushing her teeth and was now running a comb through her hair. "What are you doing tonight?"

Wait was she going to ask him on a date? Was she trying to tell him to ask her out on a date? Did he want to date Karin? Apparently his body thought so. But was she even interested in him? "Uhh, I'm training with Kakashi all day."

"And at night?" She asked, finally working out one last kink in her hair. She lifted her arms up to tie her hair in a ponytail, revealing more of her sexy belly. "We haven't actually had the chance to hangout so I was thinking about watching a movie here tonight, you know just the two of us."

"Oh," Damn it wasn't a date. Still, that did sound better than spending the night camping with Kakashi and Yamato. "That sounds like fun, I'll be here."

"Perfect," she smiled at him pumping her fist, looking fully awake now. "I got a busy day at the lab anyways, and don't worry I'll be sure to pick up a good movie and some snacks!"

With that she marched back to her room, moments later she exited fully dressed and ready to take on the world.

Naruto blinked up at the ceiling wondering what the hell was going on. Okay so he was interested in Karin. But there was no way that she was interested in him right? Or was she? There was that sleepy kiss she gave him. But after that what was there?

"I should talk to Sakura about this."

XXXX

Sakura just laughed at him and called him an idiot.

XXXX

He wasn't nervous. He was just going to watch a movie or two with Karin in his own apartment. That was a perfectly normal thing for people to do. Even more so when they were friends and roommates. But that wasn't entirely true. He was fairly certain that he had a crush on Karin.

So, it was just a perfectly normal night of movies with his crush in the apartment that they lived in together. Likely without pants. So absolutely nothing to worry about.

He knocked on the door.

"You live here you dork!" Karin shouted from inside. "Now come inside before I start the movie without you."

Right he opened his door. The door to his apartment. That he just knocked on. Sliding into his own apartment Naruto smelled the fresh scent of popcorn, a bowl of which sat right next to two and cups of instant ramen on the coffee table. "Sorry, I forgot my key."

It was a bad lie. But it was better than any other reason he could think of.

"You know where the spare is," Karin said bouncing out of the kitchen. By some magic she looked even more sexy wearing more clothes than she had this morning literally shaking her ass at him. It was the same pair of pajama pants he caught a glimpse of when he went to go rescue Gaara. She just looked so cuddly and beautiful.

Then there were her glasses and hair. Her square black frames provided a sharp contrast to her wavy hair, and soft features, save for that wicked smile of hers that made his ears burn. "Did Kakashi train the stupid out of you or something? Or did Sakura forget to beat your sense into you today?"

"Hey!" Naruto whined, "Sakura doesn't hit my that often."

"You forget, I trained with her under Tsunade, I know exactly how punch happy she is." Karin smiled pushing a bit of her hair back over her shoulder. A hand went up to her jaw rubbing a spot on her cheek. "And how hard she punches."

"Wait, does that mean you can punch that hard?" Please say no. Please please please say no! He did not need to have another crush on a woman that can punch him out of Konoha.

She smiled giving him a helpless shrug, "Not really I didn't really bother learning a lot of the fighting stuff, and by the time Tsunade was teaching that stuff I already transferred to the T&I division."

Oh thank fuck.

"Anyways," she grabbed his hand with both of hers. They were so tiny, and soft, and warm, and smooth. "Come on, let's get started. I borrowed a few movies from Ino! I think we'll like them."

"They're not chick flicks are they?" Even as he protested he allowed her to drag him to the couch, which was currently serving as his bed. Karin had made it kind of, the cushions felt comfier than before and a new fresh blanket was still warm from the drier was dropped over the top.

"Nah," she snorted, bouncing down next to him. "As if I'd make you suffer through something like that."

Thank god for that. He reached for one of the still steaming cups of ramen blowing on it gently. "So what are we watching then."

He did not trust her smile. She flicked on the T.V. and began to slurp from her own ramen. "It's a surprise."

By the time he had finished his ramen, it became apparent what kind of movie it was. A horror movie. Great, just great. Now Karin was going to know that he was a giant chicken when it comes to ghosts and spooky stuff like that. It didn't help that it was already dark out and all the other lights in the house were off.

"Don't do it." He heard Karin mutter, a hand full of popcorn inches from her mouth. Her eyes were wide and focused onto the T.V. as the main character was about to open a door. "Don't do it. Don't do it. Don't do it."

Naruto swallowed, watching as the character opened the door. For a moment there was nothing. And still nothing as the character walked into the room that was dark save for a single candle. The characters breath and foot falls were all that could be heard, until the creaking of the door.

The lock latched on its own and the candle flickered out. "Are you here to play with me?"

They both screamed, jumping out the childlike voice that echoed from the T.V.

"Hold me!" Karin screamed, crying as she lunged towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her head into his chest. He could feel her heart pounding against her chest. "I didn't think it'd be this story!"

His mouth was dry. Karin was so close, holding onto him for dear life. So this was why guys took girls out to see scary movies. It felt good, and even calmed his growing terror from the movie. With his hand on her shoulder he reached for the remote. "Should we turn it off?"

"No!" she cried, burying her face into his side even more so. "If we stop now I'll never be able to sleep. Just. Just keep holding me I feel safe like this."

His heart skipped a beat. "Yea sure."

He was cuddling with Karin. She smelled like cherries. She was inside of his arms, shaking out of fear and clinging to him for safety. It felt good. Really good. Reaching up he pulled the blanket up around them. Karin scooted closer, her arms never leaving his waist even as her hip touched his.

"Thank you," she smiled. "I should be able to watch the movie like this."

He wasn't so sure. His mind was still racing over Karin's closeness - and oh god why was the main character going back into the room!? The ghost appeared and they both screamed again.

Watching the movie proved to be a mistake. By the time it was over he couldn't close his eyes without seeing that stupid ghost. And every single random noise in his home reminded him of that creepy little girl.

"I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight." Karin muttered pulling herself closer to him. She looked so cute when she was sleepy. Her lips were parted pointing right at him, begging for a kiss. It would be so easy to steal a kiss right now. All he'd have to do would be to lean in. "I know it's late, but we should watch another movie to fall asleep to. One that's a bit less scarier."

She clicked the remote.

"Sure, what is it now?"

She smiled resting her head on his shoulder. "A sappy romance movie about a girl trying to get an idiot to realize she's in love with him."

"Why doesn't she just tell him? I mean if he's an idiot wouldn't it just be easier that way?" Still a romance movie would be a great way for him to fall asleep.

"Where's the fun in that?" Karin yawned into his chest snuggling into it, her eyes already drooping with sleep. Somehow the couch that was to small for just him was the perfect size for the two of them. So long as Karin was snuggled up close to him like this he could sleep anywhere. "Besides, don't underestimate how dense a boy can be."

The movie started.

"Oh please, nobody can be that dense." His hand was resting on Karin's hip now, his thumb grazing the bare skin of her stomach.

"Naruto," Karin leaned on him, so that she was as much on his body as she was off it. She was so close. So tantalizingly close. How did she look so attractive half asleep? It was unreal, her fiery red eyes bore into him, demanding something of him. "You. Are that dense."

"I am?" Sure girls were confusing and everything. But he thought that it was obvious when a girl liked a guy. They got all blushy and crushy.

"If you weren't you'd have a girlfriend right now." She yawned again pressing her face into his chest once again, so that only one of her eyes could see the T.V. "But enough about that. Let's watch the movie, and maybe you'll learn a thing or two."

Like he could do that with Karing snuggling next to him like that, her hands freely roaming his stomach. This was great. He was terrified, horny, and confused all at once! Did Karin like him? He needed to know.

The movie faded into the background as he watched Karin. What did girls do when they liked a boy? Well when Sakura liked Sasuke, she asked him out a lot, got really happy all the time around him, and always always took his side. And Karin was…. Not really doing any of those things.

If anything she was mad at him!

"Hey Karin?"

"Yea-huh?" She mewled.

"Are you happy that I'm back?" He asked, bringing a hand up to play with her hair, it was so long and soft.

She giggled, flaming red eyes snapping to him once more. There was no fear or tiredness in her gaze just pure amusement. "What do you think?"

"That I'm a dense idiot that needs things spelled out for him?" His arm was asleep.

"Think about it for a second Naruto." She moved, sliding along his torso so that the only thing he could see was her face as a curtain of red fell around them, sealing them away from the world. "We just watched a scary movie, I'm currently cuddling up next to you like a cat while we watch a rom com. We live in the same house, I do your laundry, and cook for us whenever you're not away on a mission. Would we be doing any of those things if I wasn't happy you're back?"

"No?"

"Exactly," She purred looming over him like a predator about to catch its prey, hands on his shoulders to prevent him from ever escaping. "Now, what kind of people would do stuff like this?"

"Friends?"

Her looked hardened, then a coy smile grew on her face. Her hot breath smelled like popcorn. "Something more."

"Best friends?"

She groaned, "Seriously, you're fucking with me right?"

"Boyfriend and-"

"Correct," She interrupted him. "And what would a boyfriend do to a girlfriend?"

"Take her out on dates?"

"And?" she purred, her nose touching his.

"Hold hands?"

She groaned again. "If I was your girlfriend what would you be doing with me right here, right now?"

"Uhh this?"

"More, Naruto. Always more." She licked her lips, bringing them with in a breath of his own. Paralyzing him in fear. "What do you want to do to me right now?"

His hands were on the curve of her hip. There was only one answer that came to mind. "Kiss you?"

"Well?" She whispered, sending a chill down his spine. "What are you waiting for?"

Karin's lips were warm and soft. An addicting feeling that sent waves of energy through his body banishing any feeling that was directly related to the here and now. And it ended far too soon.

"See told you were dense." Karin smiled pulling away from him, whipping her hair back out of his face. She assumed her spot on the couch comfortably snuggling into him. "I'd love to continue, but that last move legit fucked me up, so just hold me until we fall asleep."

Naruto blinked. A hand on the small of Karin's back. What the hell just happened? Did they really just kiss? Was this another Genjutsu? "Hey Karin?"

She hummed.

"Are you my girlfriend?"

He could see her smile in the darkness. "Would you like me to be?"

"Yes," The word came out so easily.

"Then there's your answer."

 **AN: Beta'd by xxTerror33xx. HEY LOOK ITS FLUFF GUYS! LOOK AT ALL THAT FLUFF! Anyways, this chapter marks the death of a bit of needless drama of Naruto friendzoning Karin and then him realizing he's an idiot when she saves his life during the Pein Attack. (You know stealing Hinata's thunder) But then I decided to say fuck that and lets focus on them! Anyways. I want to say 2-3 more chapters left?**

 **My next update will likely be for my horribly named "Romance Story 45: Desperately not in love." It's a Narusaku fic that involves cheating and drama! oh my.**


	18. Chapter 18

This was a feeling she could get use to.

Naruto was warm, and his steady breathing brought her peace. To say nothing of his wonderful chakra that swaddled her like a big sexy blanket. He was the only bed, blanket, and pillow she would ever need.

She closed her fingers around his shirt, balling it up tightly. And he was all hers now. Kissing him had felt as good as she dreamed it would be, with just that smallest bit of lip contact she had confirmed everything she needed to know about Naruto's feelings and her own. Love.

L.O.V.E. Love! They were in love. Now all she had to do was get Naruto to say it first. Not out of any real sense of spite. It was just fun to torment him until he confessed. Her T&I training would make that part easy, the trick was to get him to realize it.

Karin slid along his body, feeling his muscles underneath her. She followed her desire towards his mouth. Just a small kiss before he wakes up and she'll be set. Her lips grazed his, sending that chill down her spine and making her heart flutter. If she had held it for a second longer he would have woken up.

And that would ruin her fun.

XXXX

He had the weirdest dream, it felt so real.

Karin had kissed him, (or did he kiss her?), and became his girlfriend before she fell asleep on top of him. But that was just a dream. A weird, sexy dream that he really wanted to make happen.

And why was there a weight on his chest?

Wait, wait, wait. Weight?

Naruto gasped awake wide eyed getting an eye full of the beautiful red hair that was the color of desire. Karin. She was asleep on his chest, her mouth hung open as he breathing matched his, both of her hands were clutching onto his shirt for dear life. The sound of her breath was like the song of an angle, coming from one of the most beautiful creatures in the world.

Everything about her seemed so perfect and surreal in that moment. Her hair was spread about around her like a frame of wildfire, light wisps of her hair danced about her head moving with her breath. She was beyond beautiful.

She stirred, pushing up to rub the sleep from her eyes, like it wasn't the cutest thing in the world. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled at him like a demon, her arms snaking up around his neck as she pulled towards his face.

"Good morning, Naruto" She purred, bringing her face within inches of his. The way she said his name was something only he should hear. "My boyfriend."

She kissed him - softly - on the lips. It exhumed what ever sleep still lingered in his body. His blood rushed, warming his ears and making his body tingle. His own hands found her back, hovering resting just above her hips. He had never felt so much alive.

And last night wasn't a dream! Karin was his girlfriend! He had a girlfriend! This called for running around the town shouting at the top of his lungs that he Naruto Uzumaki had a girlfriend! After he was done kissing her, of course.

She pulled away, laughing and hiding her blush into the crook of his neck. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you."

"Uhh like three years?" The words slipped out without his consent.

She pulled up sharply, her eyes narrowing into a sharp glare. "Yes. Don't ruin the mood you idiot. We have like thirty minutes before I'm needed at the lab and you have to get back to training."

Karin fell back down onto him, her hot breath tickling his neck. "So let's just do some adorable couple stuff, and make plans for dinner."

"Couple stuff?" He had no idea what any of that stuff was! What was he supposed to do? He didn't even know what he was doing now! "Umm like what?"

She hugged him tighter. "Holding me is a good start, and telling me what you think of me is a good start."

His spine tingled, he felt like puking, and he had to pee. But Karin. She was there on top of him, he didn't want to move ever again. She was warm, soft, and just touching her filled him with a sense of purpose. "I, um. You're… I mean. You're like really pretty and stuff."

Karin kicked her legs up in town sending the blanket to the floor and exposing them to the cold morning air. "You really suck at that you know? But I'm really kind of happy about that."

"How's me being bad at being a boyfriend a good thing?"

"Because," He felt her lips meet his skin, and she sucked, it was weird. Really weird. But felt good at the same time, "It makes me feel better about not being a good girlfriend." She did it again on the same spot. "And if we become good at it, it means we must really care about each other doesn't it?"

Her caress paralyzed him to the couch, as though all of his nerve endings were desperately trying to get to whatever Karin was touching.

"I think you're pretty good at it already." He managed to eek out.

More of that laughter that was honey for his ears. He wanted to hear that noise everyday. She pushed herself up, so that she was sitting on his legs looking down at him, her hands touching his face. "Well it's a good thing that you're sweet and adorable."

He grabbed her hands, nudging into her touch and smiling up ather. She was beautiful and his girlfriend. His beautiful girlfriend Karin. He couldn't stop thinking about it. "And you're like super beautiful and stuff."

"And stuff?" She smiled, tossing her hair back.

His face felt warm. She was teasing him! "I said I'm not good at this kind of thing."

"It's a learning process, I'm sure in no time I'll be putty in your hands."

"But, I like you in my hands like you are now." Naruto raised an eyebrow. "It'd be weird."

Her smile fell and her eyes glazed over, still locked onto him. Did he say something wrong? How could he have already mess everything up with Karin?

She began to laugh, bubbling up as she held her stomach. It grew and grew, going from giggles, to a chourtal to a full on gwaff that sent him tumbling off of him onto the ground, taking the blanket and a few pillows down with her. "You idiot," She said in between laughs. "Give me a warning before you say something so stupid and sweet!"

"So I didn't do bad?" Naruto sat up, placing his feet on the ground, as Karin stared up at him. A generous portion of her smooth stomach was revealed. Wait, there was something missing. "What happened to your scars?"

"No, Naruto do good." She held up both hands flapping them in the air. He pulled her up, noticing their height difference for the first time. She was just slightly taller than Sakura just a whole lot more prettier. "And don't worry about those scars, Tsunade found a way to remove them a while ago."

She bounced onto her toes, kissing him on the cheek, before she walked past him, her swaying hips drew his eyes like moth to a flame. "Anyways, we better get ready for the day."

"Oh, right!" He had training to do! He was going to be late to! Yamato wanted to start super early! He ran back over to Karin, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her into another kiss. He wanted to do that a million million times. "Okay, gotta go! Let's go to Ichiraku for dinner!"

"It's a date," Karin slapped him on the chest, leaving her hand on in the center. Her eyes were telling him to stay, to forget the outside world for a few more moments and experience what it means to have a girlfriend. "You better get going."

"Okay, I love you bye!" He was out the door and halfway down the stairs before he realized what he just said. That was a normal thing for couples right? To say I love you? Didn't girls say that there was such a thing as to early? Was it to early? Did he care? Not really. Besides it wasn't like Karin was going to freak out over it.

XXXX

It wasn't supposed to be that easy!

Karin fell to her legs the second that Naruto left. She felt him standing there frozen on their steps before he took off. Her face was red and her heart was racing. She was so happy and confused and it took everything she had to act like that around Naruto without completely gushing over him.

"That idiot," she swore of course he was going to make everything so unbelievably complicated and so easy at the same time. It was way too soon to be saying the L-word. How on earth was she going to move into phase two if he just kept skipping ahead of everything! Sure she was partially to blame by rushing her status as his girlfriend, and stealing his kisses. But that didn't mean he could just skip straight to "I love yous"!

Running her hands through her hair like two rampaging bulls Karin screamed. Kicking her legs she fell back onto her floor. "Stupid stupid stupid."

How on earth was she going to react to that? He was so innocent, and pure, and good hearted. She froze. And she was going to corrupt his soul. With a devilish smile Karin looked into her room. That would do. "Oh, you're going to pay for this Naruto, you're going to pay."

She caught sight of the clock. Was that really the time? "I'm so late."

XXXX

"Naruto?" Yamato asked during a break from training. "Is that a hickey on your neck?"

"Yea!" Naruto pulled his collar showing off the mark that Karin had given him. "She became my girlfriend last night and gave me this! Oh we also have a date tonight."

"Don't you live with her though?" Kakashi snapped his book shut. "Won't that get a little weird?"

"What? Nah, It'll be awesome people live with their girlfriends all the time right?"

XXXX

"Since when could you eat more ramen than me?" Naruto groaned, glaring at his empty wallet.

Karin bumped into him, both of her arms were crossed. "Oh quit moaning, if I wasn't running so late, I'd have remembered my wallet. I'll buy next time. Sheesh, since when did I start dating a big baby?"

"Last night." He smiled, putting his wallet back, earning a punch in the arm. Her hand dangled there for a moment. Just begging to be grabbed.

"You're such a dork," Karin laughed, taking another step closer her hand brushed his. With each swing of her arm they collided again and again. It was driving him crazy.

"Karin," He scratched the side of his face, trying really hard not to look at her. But he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Even after watching her scarf down five bowls of ramen she was still the most beautiful person in Konoha. It felt like every time he looked at her she was even more beautiful in some new and exciting way. "Can I um hold your hand?"

"Dork," she spat, grabbing his hand. "You're not supposed to ask. You're just supposed to do it. It's more romantic that way."

"This is complicated. Can you just tell me what I can and can't do?" Naruto asked, rubbing his thumb over Karin's hand.

She snorted. "Where's the fun in that? But if you must know there are a few things you can do to me without asking permission."

"What are they?" Please let there be kissing. Please please please let there be kissing.

"Well lets see," She tapped her lip smiling like an angel. "You can talk to me whenever you want."

"Karin."

She was enjoying this wasn't she? Yep, she was. "Well, you can hold my hand whenever we're walking like this. You can also hug me whenever you want."

She led him up the stairs to his home. Their home. His apartment seemed so much brighter than it ever had. It had gone from where his bed was to something more. Something magical. "What about kissing? Do I have to ask for kissing?"

"Only if we're in public." She opened the door and gestured to the inside of their home. "In here though, you can kiss me whenever I'm-"

He guided her towards him, kissing her again. It was so addicting. So welcoming. He was completely aware of her mind, body and soul. In this moment they were utterly connected. But besides from all of that it just felt really really good to kiss Karin. Everything about her was so into… well into him.

"I'm not busy…" Karin finished her eyes fluttering as they parted for a moment. Her face was flushed with heat, and her red eyes sparked with a hint of embarrassment. "Actually you can do that whenever it's just us."

"Awesome."

They settled down for the evening, laughing, watching a movie (though neither one of them could say exactly what it was about) and talked until the wee hours of the night.

"We should get to bed," Karin stood from the couch, stretching so that her shirt lifted up ever so slightly. That was so hot! She was just so…. So… Karin. "I have tests to run in the morning and you're getting close to done with your training right?"

"Yea," Naruto frowned. "I guess I'll see you in the morning then."

She gave him a kiss on the nose. Her entire body danced like a candle in a storm as she walked. Capturing his imagination and his desires. She paused in the doorway to her room. "Oh, there was one more thing you can do without asking permission."

Karin vanished into the threshold. A moment later her shirt appeared, being dropped like a tantalizing steak on the ground. "You don't have to ask to sleep in the same bed with me."

He did not need to be told twice.

 **AN: Beta'd by xxTerror33xx. One or two more chapters. I did have a plan to have Hinata go vengeful yandere. But I'm lazy. So I scrapped that idea. Anyways. 1-2 more chapters then we're done.**

 **In the mean time! I'd like to Introduce a new fic I started that will hopefully be replacing this one in my "Prime" slot "Healing a Broken Future" It's a Naruto x Rin. You know that girl that Obito had a crush on and Kakashi killed? Yea that one. Go give it a read if you liked this fic then hopefully you'll like it.**


	19. Chapter 19

He was in a suit.

It was tight, hugging his form and he doubted he could throw his arms above his head without something coming undone.

He was standing at an alter.

There was a lot of people gathered around them, all of them well dressed, smiling happily at him.

He was getting married.

That thought rung through his mind like distant thunder. It brought a smile on his face that could not be diminished. She always brought that smile to his face with just a look, a touch, a word. And how could she not? When her own happiness was so intoxicating. Somehow they had survived as the world spiraled into chaos around them.

But she was his rock. His one constant in an ever changing life. When Jiraiya had died she was there, when Konoha was destroyed and their home lost, when it seemed like all hope was lost. She was there, smiling at him - or doing that cute scowl she does when she's worried about him.

He stood, like a leaf in the wind fidgeting and waiting for her to appear. It was bad enough that he hadn't been allowed to see her that morning, it seemed like everything had stretched out for an eternity. Every button on his suit took an hour, every lace on his shoes a year. Every breath a century.

The world grew silent, the lights dimmed, the air chilled. Such was Karin's entrance. Her steps heralded her beauty, that was such that should he go blind right now, his only regret would that he would not be able to see her once more, her smile warmed his soul better than the sun ever could.

Her hair was the sun frozen at dusk, a brilliant red tied back in a white veil leaving only a few wavy strands to frame her face that clashed against the black square frames of her glasses. A bouquet of pure white flowers was barely a ghost against her dress, everything about her was like fresh snow on a cold winter morning. She was perfect, completely and utterly perfect.

It was her smile that held his gaze the longest - it was one he got when he did something that made her really really happy - until he fell into the trap that was her eyes. It was in her eyes that she laid down her soul to him, everything that she was, her kindness, her manipulative nature, her cunning sense of self preservation was all there for him to see. And he loved every bit of it, of her.

In the time between heartbeats she stood before him. Beautiful beyond words, and soon she would be his wife. How did he get so lucky.

"Close your mouth idiot," Karin hissed at him, her smile never fading.

His jaw snapped shut with chomp that echoed in his ears. A low laughter echoed from the crowd around them and the world came back into focus. He was at a wedding. His wedding. He was getting married! To Karin!

"Sorry, you're just so beautiful." He rubbed the back of his head, something that he knew she found cute.

She blushed and mouthed "You're lucky I love you." Her eyes darted down and away from him. She was to cute!

"We," Tsunade shouted silencing any further chatter, "Are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Naruto Uzumaki. And Karin Uzumaki."

Naruto stood straight and stepped in front of Tsunade, Karin was at his side, casting a side long glare at him. "Are we doing this right?"

"It's just like we practiced now shut up," Karin growled, oh she was in a weird happy angry mood, kind of like when she was in that weird happy but crying mood.

"In holy matrimony." Tsunade out an open palm to Karin. "Do you Karin Uzumaki take Naruto Uzumaki to be your husband?"

What if she didn't say it? What if she said no? What if this was all some trick? His heart skipped a beat as she turned to face him, her smile never breaking, with each passing moment her beauty seemed to double.

"I do," her voice was like the first bite of cake. Sweet, fluffy, and delicious. Why did he have to wait to kiss her?

"Do you Naruto Uzumaki take Karin uzumaki to be your wife?" What kind of question was that.

"Yep!" He chirped smiling down at her. A chill ran up his spine and he saw her eyes narrow at him. "I mean I do!"

That seemed to make her happy. Man why was this so hard? When was the kissing part again? He hadn't kissed her in like a whole day. That put him far below his quota of at least five, or more depending on how often they bumped into each other.

"Please turn to face each other and join hands," Tsunade instructed with a large smile on her face. "The bride and groom have chosen to take their love for each other and write their own vows."

Okay, all he had to do was not fuck this up. Easier said than done. Could he fight Madara again and get a free pass on this? That seemed easier.

Karin smiled at him, her small delicate fingers wrapping around his hands, drawing playful circles then her eyes snapped towards his. "I promise to love you without reservation," She already did. "To comfort you in times of distress," She already had. "To stand by your side as you reach for your dreams, to laugh with you and cry with you. I promise you the best of myself, so that we may continue to grow and love as we always have and always will. I promise you that with me, you are always home."

He really wanted to kiss her. He really needed to kiss her. She was so adorable so beautiful and fuck what were his lines again? How could he forget them! All he had to do was remember those lines and say them! It should be easy they were his confession of love to Karin he could not mess this up.

The world stared at him in anticipation.

Just don't say the joke lines, just don't say the joke lines. It's a quick way to die. If she killed him now then he wouldn't be able to kiss him!

"I have you when I'm in trouble." Shit! Why was he saying those things! "You and I are the perfect couple." Why couldn't he stop! "To protect each other from devastation To unite our hearts before this nation. To treat you with truth & love. To stay together until the heavens above. My heart beats for you at the speed of light. Surrender your love for me on this night."

A few laughs echoed from the audience, and Sakura's knuckles cracked, the sound of her teeth gnashing reminded him of the screams of terrified children.

Karin just looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Really? Team rocket?"

"Yeow!" Naruto howled as Tsunade's heel dug into his foot. "That's right."

"That's the best you could do?" She was mad! That wasn't good.

"I'm sorry Karin," He looked down at his feet, it still throbbed with pain from Tsunade's assault. "But you know I'm not good with words."

He looked her in the eyes and felt warm once again. "Words just can't possibly describe how much I love you."

She melted, her fingers relaxing and a few tear swelled in her eyes. "Idiot, just say that."

"Words just can't possibly describe how much I love you."

"Again," she laughed.

"Words just can't possibly describe how much I love you."

"Again!" She jumped, smiling up at him.

"Holy crap!" Tsunade threw her hands up and walked away. "I now pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss the bride! I need a drink."

It was Karin that kissed him, pulling him down towards her, and letting all of her love be known in that connect. Once again, the world fell away leaving only the important things. Him, and her, and that wonderful kiss that connected them.

It was just to beautiful for words. Karin, was his wife. And he was her husband. They were a family now.

"Karin, I love you," He whispered placing a hand on her cheek.

"That's a good thing Naruto," she laughed lightly touching his nose with her own. "Because I sure as hell love you."

XXXX

He had gotten kicked out.

Karin his lovely wife of three years was pregnant and he had gotten kicked out of the emergency room while she was giving birth to their daughter! He wasn't going to be around to see his beautiful baby girl be born! What did he do to deserve this kind of punishment? Sure he was screaming and running around like an idiot but what sane husband that loved his wife wouldn't be doing the same thing?

His wife was in pain and his daughter was about to be born he had to do something! Anything!

So he paced, walking back and forth if he stopped he might not be ready for when they needed him! What if there was a ninja attack! What if some jerk came from the future to kill his daughter!? That'd be rude! He needed to be ready for everything! Time assassinations included!

What if one of the boy babies in the hospital saw her and developed a crush on his precious baby girl? He needed to prepare the speech! What would he say to her daughters future boyfriends? Wait! No that was to much. She wasn't going to be allowed to have a boyfriend until she was married! Yes! That was perfect!

"Naruto," Sakura growled, sticking her head out of the emergency room, her stomach also swelling with a child, she was only six months pregnant and looked to be the same size as Karin, twins apparently. "You can come in now."

He did not need to be told twice! "Thank you Sakura,"

There she was, in all of her beautiful pasty red haired glory, looking so delicate and perfect. Despite everything she had been through. And now, she had their daughter in her arms, a small crying human with hair the color of a peach.

Kairn looked at him, giving him a toothy smile that would match his own. She looked tired, but very happy. She held up their daughter so that she was facing him. "Look Futaba, it's your papa."

"Futaba?" Naruto asked, reaching out a finger to his daughter. She grabbed it and his heart nearly melted.

"Yea," Karin sighed, "I told you I wasn't going to go with your horrible names."

"Futaba Uzumaki," The name tasted sweet on his lips. He had a daughter. Tears began to fall from his eyes. He had a family. A beautiful family. "It's nice to meet you I'm your papa."

 **AN: Beta'd by xxTerror33xx**

 **Wow so that's over! Hope you all enjoyed it. And please check out my new "Flagship" fic "Healing a Broken Future." It's a Naruto x Rin fic that has time travel and emotional distress in it! Please read it if you want more romance.**

 **I'd like to talk about some of the thigns I had planned but didn't end up doing. (Partially to make this chapter longer, partly to give you all that extra bit of content you might want.)**

 **A bit of drama: I had originally planned for Naruto to find out that Karin was trying to manipulate him into falling in love with him. But that just felt out of place on several levels. For one its Naruto, the only way he'd find out is if someone told him. And he'd probably only care if he wasn't in love with Karin.**

 **Karin's plans: Originally this was going to take several chapters. A lot longer. But when I started writing it, it felt slow, and I kind of just let my scenes and characters dictate where to go, that's how we ended up with the movie scene. That wasn't planned, but I loved it! And then Naruto saying I love you to Karin way to soon to throw her off. Fantastic.**

 **Uzumaki Queen: This was actually going to be the "Main" plot of the fic, originally they were going to rebuild Uzu, but I got lazy. After** that **you saw a hint of it when Karin was alone in Konoha with dealing with the** jonin **from the Grass, but it was actually going to be a lot deeper than that. I had a few scenes planned based on the necklace. It was designed to control Uzumaki souls. Or** atleast **kind of. During the Pein attack in order to save** Naruto **she activates it briefly and pain is stunned just long enough for her to pull out a few of his rods from Naruto before he swatted her. That scene was cut because it was basically just taking Hinata's scene and** givign **it to Karin. And action.** Bleh **.**

 **Meeting mom: I had a plan for Karin to go with Naruto for learning to control the Kyuubi, via chains and again that necklace. It was supposed to be their bonding experience with Karin confessing during the training or something. When Naruto would fight Kurama inside of himself, she would join him, get pulled inside and meet Kushina! I love Kushina, she's a great character would have loved to write that scene. But it didn't really fit the story.**

 **Fourth shinobi war: I had this little scene added that because the Uzumaki souls were no longer bound to the seal matrix they could be reanimated. So they could be reanimated. to counter this massive threat Karin is able to command them because of the necklace and they join the good guys calling her queen. (dey knew** deh weh **) . Was cut because... well I didn't want to write all the stuff to get there.**

 **And yea, those are the** scenese **that I ultimately cut.**

 **And yes. Futaba is based** off of **Futaba Sakura from Persona 5.**


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